Sermon Questions

Week 1

Seeking God
By: Mark Colflesh

Seeking In Faith - 1

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

~ Jeremiah 29:13

     Is God hiding from us? That is a question that comes to mind when reading this verse. Why doesn’t God just show himself and remove all doubt?

     When Jeremiah first passed along God’s message, he was speaking to Israelites who were in rebellion. They had walked away from God to worship false gods. God was asking the people to choose between Him and those pagan gods. But he was leaving the choice up to them. Basically, he was asking the people who have been his children to show whether they still have faith in Him.

     How would they show this? By seeking Him with their whole hearts. This phrase doesn’t mean they would always obey perfectly. What God was asking for was integrity and sincerity in their seeking.

     Today we may not worship idols carved from stone or wood, but there are plenty of created things that grab our attention and even hold our devotion. Don’t believe me? Watch a teenager who suddenly realizes that they have left home without their smartphone. Or listen to a guy talk about his favorite football team.

      Today God once again asks us to make a choice. Will we choose Him or will we choose the gods of this world. The way to show we have chosen wisely is to seek him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

      Phillip Yancey told the story of the first Christian missionary to Afghanistan. He worked there for 30 years without ever seeing a convert. But during those years he translated the Bible into the Afghan language so that the next generation of missionaries could see the harvest.

      We display our desire to trust God and His will by working toward goals that we may never see realized. And we find that as we take each step toward God, he reveals Himself and His trustworthiness all the more. The more sincerely we seek the more we find.

      What is one area of your life you have trouble trusting God with? Pray that He will give you greater faith in this area.

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Seeking In Faith - 2

“Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the Lord.”
-1 Chronicles 22:19

      This may seem a strange verse to reference in regard to faith, but it’s not. At least not as I see it. 

      David is nearing the end of his life and God has told him that he will not be the one who will build the temple. Rather, David’s son Solomon will be tasked with building the great temple to the Lord. This must have been difficult for David to accept after all of his years of service to God. But rather than sulk, David invested those last days with making plans and gathering material for the temple. Just stop on that. He was working on a project that he knew he would not be alive to see built. Not one stone would be laid while he was still alive. That takes faith that David had seen rewarded many times before. In Psalm 9:10 he wrote, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

      Now as he commissions Solomon, David reminds him and the people of the importance of seeking after the Lord. This is something that requires the devotion of one’s heart and soul. This seeking is not passive reflection. It is actively pursuing the will of God. David trusted the Lord by gathering the stones and metals necessary for building the temple he would not live to see. He was planting the seeds for a harvest yet to come. 

      What things in your life prevent you from seeking God as you should?

      Memorize today’s verse and ask the Holy Spirit to make it true in your life.

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Seeking In Faith - 3

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14

      When writing on faith, you would think I would choose a verse that uses the word. But the two important words in this verse are “humble” and “seek”. And those two words have everything to do with faith.

     Faith, true Christian faith, cannot coexist with pride. This is a statement that flies in the face of modern thought. So much of what we hear today are statements like “You are strong enough” and “You are worth it”. But this does not line up with biblical thought. Pride makes me the center of the equation. Problem x Me = Solution. It is about having faith in my abilities, my strength. And that doesn’t cut it. When I do the math correctly, I see that Problem x Me = Disaster.

      In today’s verse, God reminds His people that to heal from their sickness, their first step had to be toward Him. That meant acknowledging that they couldn’t do it by their own efforts and that God was the only correct answer.

      If you find yourself in a mess today, and almost all of us do, begin by admitting your weakness and need for help. That is the root of humility. Then turn away from yourself and seek God’s will. Ask Him to do what He does best – heal, restore, solve.

      What is one persistent problem you have in your life? Ask God to help you to humbly turn that problem over to Him and then watch how He works.

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Week 2

Confessions and Repentance
By: Pastor Mike Collins

Dark Roads – Confession

  When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
-Psalm 32:3-5

The journey of our life will ultimately take us down many roads. We prefer roads that are well lit, safe, and easy to traverse. However, we often find ourselves on dark roads. The irony is we often put ourselves on these dark roads.

I have traveled many dark roads in my life. I put myself there, allowed myself to stay there and wondered how I got there. The darkness was created by my sin. My willful transgression of the known law of God. I willingly allowed myself to stay caught up in addiction and rebellion to God and thereby walked in darkness. All the while I stayed captive to Satan. Don’t get me wrong, there were many times I would grasp at a light but not truly wanting to embrace the light.

It wasn’t until full desperation that I reached out and understood what I must do. I had to bring my sin into the light. I needed to confess. First to God, not that he did not know, but I had to be real with him and real with myself. I had to bring out from the darkness and into the light that which I had struggled to keep to myself. Secondly, I had to confess to my wife and to others and be held accountable.

It is in that confession that David’s words in Psalm 32 became real to me. I truly understood God’s forgiveness and grace in my life and the freedom that came from that heaviness of sin and the burden in the chain which held me. I saw the forgiveness of God and the forgiveness of others in the grace extended through him and the community of faith. It was then I truly began to walk on bright roads, illuminated by the light of Christ and His word.

Confession to God is not just some hoop we jump through but rather the breaking of a chain. If you find yourself in chains or walking down a dark road, a road that you have put yourself on through rebellion or sin, I encourage you to confess that to God and allow him to break those chains can light your path. There is freedom and hope in Jesus Christ.

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U-Turns – Repentance

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
-Psalm 51:10-12 & 17

In our modern day of wonderful apps on our phone like Google Maps and other global positioning systems, it is difficult to get lost or to be going the wrong way. However, there are those of us who are stubborn and either refuse to use the map or think we know better. We often say to ourselves, “That computer which is hooked up to a satellite can’t possibly know better than I do.” So, we stay lost and continue down the wrong path. We tell ourselves with each turn of the steering wheel that this must be the way, all the while often ignoring the voices of those around us encouraging us to just listen to the map, turn around and head in the right direction.

Our journey of life is often the same way. We can be stubborn. Okay, I can be stubborn. As we walked down those roads of life, when we are following our plan, we will inevitably get lost. We ignore the ultimate positioning system and that is God. He knows best, and he knows exactly where we need to be.

Repentance is defined as a sincere and thorough change of the mind in regard to sin and a voluntary turning away from sin. It is the ultimate spiritual U-turn. When we’re headed down the wrong way and we confess our sin to God, we also must turn away from it. We don’t continue going in the wrong direction and getting ourselves deeper and sent. We turn from it and allow God to create in us that clean heart. Our role in it is simple, surrender. We turn around and allow God to do the work. He creates the clean heart once we surrender. He guides the path we simply need to turn around.

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Community – Accountability and Fellowship

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
-Acts 2:44

One of the most frightening aspects of dark roads is isolation. Your loan, no traffic around, and seemingly helpless. You are broken off from others. The dark roads in our spiritual journey are very much the same way. We are alone and broken off from the community. Rest assured, that is exactly what Satan wants you to do. He knows that the community of faith is a blessing from God and if you are alone and broken off from the pack, you are especially vulnerable.

When we are connected to the body of believers, there is accountability, encouragement, and an opportunity to be a blessing to others and share our journey. Life happens within the community. We are created with a need and a desire to be together. We are not meant to walk this life alone and God gives us the community of believers to sustain that need and desire. We thrive within the community known as the church. It is not a perfect entity because it is made up of broken and imperfect people, but the One who brings it together is perfect and He is the center of the community and through Him the community lives, serves, and worships! To God be the glory!

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Week 3

Obedience
By: Debbie Colflesh

I will grant you peace in the land and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.
-Leviticus 26:6

Isn’t that an awesome promise? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if each day as you laid your head down to rest you would know no fear? Wouldn’t it be great if each day you would know that there would be peace in your world? One more, what in the world does this have to do with obedience, which is my topic?

As you have probably realized by now, jumping into the middle of a chapter and pulling out a verse can be confusing because that verse is only a small part of the bigger picture. This chapter of Leviticus begins with such things as don’t make idols and observe my sabbath. Twice in the first two verses we are told. “I am the LORD.” Then in verse three the real challenge is revealed. The challenge that we all yearn to fulfill but struggle with. The challenge that leads up to God’s peace. Lev. 26:3 states, “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands.”

Ouch! There’s that word that is so hard to do and in my own strength is impossible - obey.

But when I keep my eyes focused on God, when I stay in His word, when I listen to Him, when I seek His face through prayer, I can obey.

A couple of the mirrors in my house have the words I can... written on them. That is to remind me that in God’s strength I can do anything - even obey when it’s tough. So that peace that we all crave, that peace that seems impossible in the midst of the chaos of life, it is ours when we are walking in obedience with The One Who Loves Us Most - The one who says, “I am the LORD your God.”

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“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
-Numbers 6:24-26

In particular verse 26, “The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Imagine if you would, a world where God never turns his face toward us. A world where free will always gets in the way of love. A world that seems to function on the idea that “it is my way or the highway”. A world without hope.

I would guess many of us have had times when we have felt the emptiness of a world without our Heavenly Father. Times when we have chosen to do what we wanted without a care for anyone else. Times when our disobedience has kept us from knowing the peace that comes when God looks favorably upon us.

Obedience is defined as submission to another’s authority. The perfect picture of obedience - Christ in the garden saying to his father, not my will but yours be done.

A prayer we must each pray daily as we strive to become the people God has called us to be. To have our loving Heavenly Father turn his face towards us and give us peace. 

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Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.
-Ephesians 5:22

My husband, Mark, had the opportunity to give a brief talk or homily at his best friend from high school’s wedding. A golden opportunity to remind this couple, who were not Christians, about God’s admonition to us to submit to his authority. However, the bride made it perfectly clear that there was to be no mention of submission or obedience. 

The bride’s understanding of the word submission was so skewed by the world that she would have none of it. Sadly after three short years, their relationship ended in divorce. She missed the mark when she thought that submission must first be to her husband. Maybe she looked at that idea as if their marriage would be a dictatorship rather than a relationship. 

In my own marriage at times, I have struggled with submitting to the wisdom of my husband but as I have drawn closer to God.  As I focus on the last part of that verse, ...as you do to the Lord, submission comes easier. 

Submission to God must come first. It is a form of faith. In submitting, I learn to let go of the things I think are important that really aren’t. Submission teaches me to put God first, then others because that is what true love is.

When Mark came home from prison we began to have devotions together on a regular basis. In the book we are currently using we recently read about George Mueller. Muller had been a Christian for four years when one evening he came to a point of complete surrender. He explained that in four hours he learned and understood more Scripture than he had in the preceding four years of his Christian life. Total surrender is what is needed to see God’s ways.

Throughout my life I have not done submission or surrender well but I’m learning. And as I seek to be obedient to God, I find that the ability to love like God calls us to increases in m

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Week 4

Trust
By Rachel Bevins

Trust - 1

  Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

You’ve heard about trust fall exercises, right? You know, where you fall back, trusting that the other person is going to catch you before you hit the ground. I am not a fan of that test. One too many times, I have been too trusting of people who have let me hit the ground.

I have always tended to overlook the bad, the red flags, or negative things in people; and only see the good. I know how I would never treat people and expect them to be the same. I would never lie to you, so I expect you to not lie to me. I would not intentionally hurt you and I expect the same from you.

It took some hard life lessons to realize that no matter how much I want that to be true; it is just not the case. Evil is all around us. People can be evil. They use, abuse and discard when finished with us. Seems worse when we are a Christian. They know we love God and try to throw it back in our faces when we turn them down. “I thought you were a Christian?” “That doesn’t sound very Christian to me.”

If we are not careful, that can really start to mess with us. Maybe they’re right? Maybe I’m not being as good of a Christian as I could or should be. When you have been beaten down, let down by friends and family, it becomes hard to trust people. Not being able to trust people can result in not having good relations and community with others. It can be hard to trust even other Christians when you have experienced such hurt. Sometimes, the worst kind of hurt/pain, is church hurt/pain.

There was a time when I experienced just that. I was a part of a church that I absolutely loved. I felt like I really had a place there. I was involved in the church in more ways than I thought I would be. I loved it! I loved the people, and I loved the Pastor and his family. I cannot tell you exactly when it happened, but something started to shift, and I did not feel so great about it anymore. I was blindsided by the church. I was hurt tremendously. I felt like I could not even defend myself properly. It took me a long time to attend another church service anywhere! If these people that I had grown to love so much could be so hurtful, why would I want to find another church to do the same thing to me?

The remarkable thing though, is that there is one whom you can trust. God will NEVER leave or betray you! Being a Christian does not mean that we never have bad days. It does not mean that there will not be tough times or that every day will be sunshine and roses. Coming to Jesus does not mean you will not be tempted or even that people will not let you down. Coming to Jesus means having better tools to get through those tough times. We will always make it on the other side with Jesus. If you feel like there is no one in your corner, rest assured, that Jesus is if you just trust in Him.

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Trust - 2

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

I’m reminded of a video I watched recently. A lady asks God to help with dishes so she can make dinner. He says ok, I’ll take care of it. It’s not in her time and she starts to get frustrated. He says “You asked me to help, I’m going to help.” She says “But I need to get this done so I can start cooking dinner. You know how I am and I like to keep a schedule. ‘Yep I know, you have your plans. I’ll help you”. She’s tired of waiting and starts to do the dishes herself.

God says, “What are you doing?” She tells Him that she asked for help and He’s not helping so she’s just going to do it, so it gets done. ‘You asked me for help. I’m going to help you. You are trying to control it. If I told you I’m going to help, you need to trust me.” She says, “Yeah but I have to get going on this already; can you just get started?” And God tells her “Yes, I will take care of it. You have asked for my help I'm going to help you.” “I just I really gotta get some... you know what, I'll just take care of it; it's fine” “But it's not fine. You did ask me for help and I want to help. I need you to trust me” “oh Lord it's not that I don't trust you” “But you're trying to still be in control. You've asked me for help; I told you I'll help you, and you're still trying to take over. You gotta let me do it.

She then gets a text message from her friends. They tell her that they are stopping by with food. The restaurant they ordered from messed up their order. To make up for it, they were given extra food to apologize for the mix up. She ends up with two nights of free dinner.

Isn’t that just like God? He’s always working in the background of our lives. The times that it doesn’t seem like He hears us or that He is actually going to help us; He is taking care of us. He ALWAYS answers prayer! It more than likely is not going to be in the way in which you think it should be or even when you think it should be; but He always answers! We don’t see the big picture. We think we do but we don’t. God does. He knows what is best for us and how it is best for it to happen. If we knew it all, we for sure wouldn’t trust Him.

Trusting Jesus is the hardest, most rewarding thing that I have ever done. In the waiting and in the moments where I don’t know how I'm going to make it through; He reminds me that He’s right there beside me, working out the details in ways that I don’t understand. Cling to Him friends, He will never lead you astray.

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Trust - 3

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ makes all the difference. Seeing how He has answered prayers in my own life has been enough evidence for me that I need Him. I needed Him then; I need Him now and I need Him for always!

Matthew 5:32 “But I tell you, that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Those words were like a gut punch in late 2019.

You see, in late 2019, my world came crashing down. August 28, 2019, my husband whom I had just celebrated my fourth wedding anniversary with, came home and told me that he wanted a divorce. How could this be? How in the world could this truly be happening? So many emotions went into that day; and the days that followed. Among the gamete of emotions, was anger. Deep down, I knew God didn’t cause/make the divorce happen. In the moment, however, I didn’t understand why God will allow me to fall in love so deeply with someone who would ultimately crush me.

I know now, that I had to be married to him in order to have Hunter. I cannot imagine my life without him! He’s what has kept me going when I just wanted everything to end. Everything was too much. The heartache was too much to take. The money I needed for legal was too much. It wasn’t worth the fight to me. I just wanted to be done. Then I remembered the alternative if I am not here. Hunter would be raised by someone that won’t lead him towards Jesus. I love Hunter far too much to let that happen to him! In that aspect, I was worrying about stuff that was not as bad as the thought of him not being around my family and being led to Christ.

What I really needed to do on August 28, 2019, was say Lord, I need your guidance. Lord I trust You know what’s best for this situation. I give it to You! I should have gone to God first. Instead, I chose to trust that I knew what was best for me. Instead, I tried to figure it out and ‘handle’ it on my own. It seemed like I ran into roadblock after roadblock during this time. I struggled finding someone who was willing to work with me across county lines; that weren’t going to charge me an arm and a leg.

I struggled with what I was going to do for work. I was still working over an hour away. I would spend 10 hours a week just driving to and from work. Was this really what I was supposed to do? This is really what God wants from me? Absolutely not! He wanted me to trust Him!

Fast forward a few months, I found a place for us to live in Waverly. I had found and lost a job in Waverly. I then found another one that was willing to work with me for my court dates. Leading up to court, I was nervous and honestly, I was scared. I knew what and who I was up against. I did pray for the judge that he would hear my heart and that he would hear the truth. My biggest fear was that I was going to lose my son! During a discussion with my attorney, I learned that the judge for our case got called to a bigger one so they brought in a different judge! It was a female judge who was the highest ranked judge for the district. Thank you God! I knew that it was from God.

After our final day in court, my attorney told me that he thought she already had her decision but she needed to do all the legal paperwork etc. Cue the impatience. It took from May 5th. to December 30th 2021 to get a ruling back from the judge. 239 days! In these moments, I had prayed for the judge. I had prayed that while I wanted her to have the ruling in, I also didn’t want her to rush it. I wanted a ruling that God saw fit for our lives. God is so good and faithful. On December 30th, I got the call that changed my world and life. The divorce was finally over and I was a full time single mom to the best little boy I had ever known! That was the hardest most rewarding time in my life. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. That was the hardest thing. Not trusting in myself to take care of the situation, but trusting that God has it; is a hard thing. I need to know the whos, what’s, whens, wheres, why’s and how’s. I think I need to know all the things of the situation. It’s my human nature to think that I know what is best for me ‘because I’m here’.

Shame on you, Rachel. You know better than that! I was raised in a Christian home and had (and still do have) incredible, Christian parents. I knew right from wrong. I knew that God was doing big things in my life. The ‘problem’ was that it wasn’t in my timing.

Being raised in a Christian home doesn’t exempt you from heartaches and trials. It only helps you have a stronger foundation and develop the right tools for defeating the enemy.

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Week 5

God’s Love
By: Marsha Gentry

Grasping the Love of God

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ!
-Ephesians 3:17b-18 NIV

     During the dry season, the Amazon River in South America is 42,471 sq. mi. wide (roughly the land area of Cuba). Its width expands to over 135,000 sq. mi. (the size of Germany) in the rainy season.  That’s WIDE!

      The Nile River has historically claimed bragging rights for being the longest river at 4,132 miles. That’s LONG!

      While most think Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world, actually Mauna Kea, the volcano on Hawaii’s big island, is over twice as tall if measured from its base on the seafloor to its peak. That’s HIGH!

      Nearly 6.8 miles below the ocean surface, the recess of the Mariana Trench is the deepest point in the world. Mt. Everest would fit comfortably below the surface there. That’s DEEP!

     Why the Guinness Book of World Records moment? As humans, we are awed by extremes. Our finite minds can’t completely comprehend the infinite!  So too, Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians AND continuing today for modern humanity is that we “get it”! Our Supreme God, the Creator of the widest and longest and highest and deepest, wants us, His children, to grasp – to get it – that His love for us is far beyond any measurement we can compute or comprehend!

“How precious concerning me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand… 
-Psalm 139:17-18”

That’s A LOT!

PRAYER: Thank You, God, that You love us WIDE and LONG and HIGH and DEEP – A LOT! You want us, together with all the saints, to grasp the immensity and intensity of Your love for us. That immensity and intensity was culminated on the cross at Calvary.  Help us, Lord, to get it!  AMEN.

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God’s Love For You Is…

EVERLASTING:

…I have loved you with an everlasting love.
-Jeremiah 31:3

  But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with them who fear Him.
-Psalm 103:17

      God’s always-will-be kind of love doesn’t have an expiration date.  Nowhere does the Bible stipulate “limited quantities available”. It’s not psychobabble rhetoric when we’re told that His love for us will always be.  From before we were born until long after we’ve gone into eternity, WE WILL BE LOVED BY GOD!

UNFAILING:

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken…
-Isaiah 54:10  

But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
-Psalm 13:5  

     The dictionary’s definition of “unfailing” includes: without error or fault; sure; constant; not falling short of expectations; inexhaustible. What is shaken up in your world right now? Relationships? Health (physical, mental, emotional)? Finances? Job? Crisis of faith? Could you, in all honesty, apply any of those definitions to the areas of your life that were listed? Maybe some come close, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, right? God’s love, unfailing love – is 110% spot-on specific to each definition of unfailing.  He is the ONLY constant in a world filled with inconsistencies. His love is inexhaustible, unlike the supplies on the store shelves or employee shortages! His love doesn’t have the errors or faults of humanity, even when human intentions are at their very best!

FAITHFUL:

Certainly the faithful love of the Lord hasn’t ended; certainly God’s compassion isn’t through! They are renewed every morning.  Great is Your faithfulness.
-Lamentations 3:22-23 CEB  

     God’s faithfulness is monumental and majestic. Certainly, we can and should depend upon Him each and every day of our lives! 

PERFECT:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
-1 John 4:18 NIV 

If we are afraid…this shows that we have not experienced His perfect love.
-1 John 4:18 NLT

     As we read in 1 Corinthians 13, the “LOVE” chapter, we find that unlike human love God’s perfect love has NO ulterior motives, it’s not self-seeking, and it doesn’t depend on feelings, moods, or circumstances.  The purity and perfection of His love for us allows us to let our guard down and trust Him explicitly!

     PRAYER: Father, thank you for your everlasting, unfailing, faithful, perfect love! Your sacrificial love – Agape love – that we see through the cross of Christ saves and restores. May we experience Your Agape love fresh and new every day of our lives.  AMEN.

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Love One Another

A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 
-John 13:34 

     Words in red – Jesus said! He wasn’t offering a good suggestion to His followers back then.  He didn’t offer them an option.  “As I have loved you, so you MUST love one another.” Sounds like He gave them (and us) an edict. “As I have loved you,” sets the bar HIGH! 

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-Romans 5:8  

What does that look like for me??

Letting people know about Jesus

Offering kindness and compassion

Validating that someone matters

Encouraging and uplifting others

     “…while we were still sinners…”  In our messiness. In our brokenness. In those moments comparable to when you just get out of bed and see a glimpse of yourself in the mirror! After the initial shock, you mutter “ughhh” and quickly move away from that “can’t unsee” vision! When we’re at our ugliest, orneriest, and our most vulnerable. At our very worst, He loves us the very best!

     And then He says, “Now, YOU go and love others like that too!” But God! You know me! You know who You’re working with here! That’s kind of – well, pretty much impossible!  What’s that Lord? I’m supposed to read Luke 1:37? For nothing is impossible with God.  Yep, got the message loud and clear!  So….

     I can…no…with your help I will LOVE others so they can see You! 

     When I want to argue my point because I know I’m right, I won’t because in the big scheme of things it isn’t that important!

     When I want to tell that person off who got loud and disrespectful, I won’t because maybe something is going on in their world and they’re hurting  - so I pray for them instead and try to show them the grace and mercy you show me when I deserve it least!

      A 4-year-old boy saw his neighbor, an elderly man who had recently lost his wife, sitting on the porch crying.  The little boy went over to him, climbed up on his lap, and just sat there.  When the boy’s mom asked what he had said to the neighbor, the boy replied, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

     PRAYER:  God, Your very essence is love.  When we love one another, we are fulfilling Your most fundamental wish for our lives.  Help us, Lord, like the little boy on the neighbor’s lap…like Jesus saying “Father, forgive them” on the cross…to go love others like that too!  AMEN! 

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Week 6

Relational Love
By: Various Authors

Love and Marriage Edification
By: Pastor Mike & Becky Collins

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” - Romans 14:19

In Romans 14, Paul uses the Greek verb diōkō, which describes the vigorous pursuit of someone or something. Here, however, it clearly refers to a constructive pursuit, the striving for or aspiring to achieve some worthy goal. Paul recommends that we aspire for peace in our relationships with one another. The reciprocal pronoun emphasizes that this pursuit must be mutual; all of us are to seek this in all of our relationships with one another. Edification is not about making others feel good about themselves. In reality it benefits harmony and spiritual health. 

In 2000, after six years of marriage, my wife and I moved to Colorado Springs to attend Bible College. We had two children, two full-time jobs, and now I would be attending school 3 nights a week. To make matters slightly more stressful, Becky worked nights and I worked days. I would come home at 10 in the evening from school and she would literally be walking out the door to go to work. Five years of that schedule could take a toll on a marriage and unfortunately some couples struggled during their time in Bible College. Becky and I were committed that that would not happen to us, but we knew it would take intentionality (ahh, my favorite word!). 

Prior to Bible College, Becky and I had good habits of investing our time with each other. But this would certainly be a challenge. We made conscious decisions that on Becky’s days off, we would not settle into mindless distractions like television or other activities that do not foster communication. We instead would put the kids to bed at 9:00, bust out a game of Scrabble or some other favorite and talk for two hours before going to bed. Those were rich moments of connection, and growth in our marriage. They kept us close through some very challenging days and fostered a love that was already rooted in a deep foundation.

It also prepared us for many more years of crazy schedules, long nights, stress and fatigue. We learned the importance of being intentional for each other. We must make time. If we are not intentional (making every effort) about healthy communication, then we are going to see relationships suffer. Whether marital, family, or just between friends, we should make every effort to seek peace and mutual edification with one another.

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When I Lay My Isaac Down
By: Bob & Delaine Schillie

Delaine has recently discovered a new, at least to us, song. 

When I Lay My Isaac Down, follows the story of God's testing of Abraham as found in Genesis 22:1-18. We reread the passage to refresh our knowledge of the story.

The song starts out . . . 

Abraham, prayed for the day,
God would give him a son, . . .
The greatest gift he'd ever known;
Then came the day,
Who would have dreamed,
God would say you gotta give him back to me, . . .

The chorus really gets to the heart of the matter . . .

When I lay my Isaac down,
With a broken heart, . . .
Just to find it wasn't him  . . .
“My Isaac”
He wanted me!

We were reminded while reading how Abraham didn’t question or argue with God. He just set out to do as God told him.

We also were reminded of Abraham's trust in God's providing when he told his servants, "We" will go and worship and "we" will come back.  - Genesis 22:5 NIV

We all can probably think of times God asked us to do or give up something. Did we do so without questioning or doubts? Lord help us all to just trust and obey!

The song ends with this verse . . .

Most of us I'd dare to say,
With an Isaac in God's way;
On this Altar you can prove,
It's not your Isaac that God wants,
He wants you!

Do you have an Isaac you are holding on to?

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Humility in Relationships
by: Mark & Debbie Colflesh

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 
- Philippians 2:3-4

If you are watching a sporting event, keeping score is essential. If you are in a relationship, keeping score is a game plan for disaster. Keeping score is when we are more concerned about our wants and needs above those of our partners. This is born out of fear and insecurity. “I have to make sure I get what is rightfully mine.” It is this messed up thinking that causes a man to insist his fiancée signs a prenuptial agreement guaranteeing he will walk away with the most stuff if the marriage ends. And his insistence almost assures that it will. This concern for ourselves causes us to act manipulatively. We paint ourselves as the victim if we don’t get what we want.

But the Bible offers a very different model for success. It tells us to value others above ourselves. This is humility. But is that just a pious way of saying I have a low self-image? No, far from it. We can act lovingly toward each other because we are confident in our identity in Christ. And that is where faith enters the equation.

Faith allows us to have confidence that God will meet our needs. As His children, we know that we will never be abandoned. And with that confidence we can seek the good of each other. No more arguing, no more passive aggressive manipulating, no more keeping score.

Only when we can live in this faith can we find the true satisfaction in a relationship. With God in the equation, we can finally add up to all we can be. In humility is unity, and in unity is bliss.

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Week 7

Loving God
By: Kristin Milner

Loving God - Part One

“I Love the LORD, for He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.
-Psalm 116:1-2

“We love because He first loved us.”
-1 John 4:19

     I had the great advantage to be brought up in the church by parents who loved the LORD deeply and lived lives dedicated to Him. This allowed me to come to know God and His love for me at a young age. And as a child my love for God was rooted by that example from my parents and how they exhibited their love.

     This love I had was simple. I knew God loved me. I understood the need for Him and His salvation. And as a child, that was all I needed. Children tend to see things in absolutes, in black and white. Because God loved me, that love in my mind was total. God loved me, period. There were no ifs, ands or buts. And just like I loved my parents completely, I came to love God completely. I was His and He was mine.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it,” in Mark 10:15. I believe this is true about our love for God just as much as it is about faith and trust. While it is important to grow and come to a fuller understanding and deeper love of Him, there needs to be some of that first love as well. Just as a child has that unwavering trust early in their lives, and love for their parents just because they are, we need some of that same unswerving, total love for God.

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Loving God - Part Two

“And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” 
-Deuteronomy 10:12-13

     What does it mean to love God? That is the question that we all ask at some point in our walks with God. And as a children’s Sunday School teacher, I try to put it simply as best I can. Make God number one in your life. He should come before anything else. There are many nuances in the middle of that statement and far deeper meanings to go through, however.

     And what does it mean to make God number one? Is God my priority? Do I take the time to spend with God? Do I follow God’s commands and will for my life? Is what I am doing pleasing in God’s sight? Just like any other relationship, we need to nurture the one we have with God.

     Jesus himself said that we should love God with all our hearts, souls and minds and that if we loved him we would obey His commands. (Matthew 22:37 & John 14:15)

     As I have grown in my relationship with God, I have come to understand that loving God is a daily exercise. It requires work and time. I began this journey of growth by spending time learning about God by reading the Bible and in prayer. Even when I was in High School and College, I would even take time between classes to spend time in prayer. I needed to spend time with Him because I wanted to make sure I was following what He wanted for me. I saw the relationships that the people around me had with God and I wanted that depth.

     This brought me to the point of surrender. It was no longer enough to just be saved, in my love for God, I needed to give Him everything. It could no longer be about me but only about Him. This is my love for God.

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Loving God - Part Three

“O God, You are my god, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You,”
-Psalm 63:1-3

     What comes next then? The love we have for God should permeate everything in our lives. He should be our first thought when we wake up and our last thought when we go to sleep. God should be a part of every activity and thought of every day. We should desire more of Him so strongly that it consumes our very being.

     Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Loving God means rejoicing in God, being eager to think of and pray to God. It means being glad to be in God’s presence and to be with God alone. It means not grieving God, but rejoicing in God simply because it is God who is involved, and because we are permitted to know and have God, and to speak and live with God.”

     We love God simply for who He is and need no other reason no matter the circumstances in our lives. He inhabits our inmost being and we abide in Him.

     I have come to a point in my life where this thought is very real to me. My desire for God draws me closer to Him and I am no longer satisfied with where I am. I long for more of Him and realize no matter how much I love Him now, there is always room for more. My desire is that I should have so much of Him that it becomes obvious to everyone around me that God is my everything.

     That is not to say that we do not still have struggles with things that happen in our lives. When my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I was devastated. It is no surprise that I had questions for God on why this had to happen. But I have learned in my years of walk with God that it was ok to question God. But God in His infinite love for me was my comfort and stay even in the midst of this difficult time watching my dad slowly lose the battle with cancer. I had to cling even more strongly to Him. He taught me to give thanks to Him even in the troubles. That God was still God and He was still the center of my life and worthy of praise. As a result, my relationship with God was strengthened. My love was deeper. And I strive harder to worship Him with every fiber of my being.

     May we all have that deep desire for God. And my last thought is this, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” ~Jude 21

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Week 8

Journeys in Prayer

By: Pastor Mike Collins

Sincerity

“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” ~Hebrews 10:22

     I was saved when I was 16 years old in a small church in Las Vegas, Nevada. The congregation had been around for years, and they were steeped in tradition. I quickly learned the culture of Christianity and what it was to look like a Christian. This was never more evident than in my prayer life, especially moments of public prayer.

     Every Sunday morning, as in many congregations, we would have open altar prayer time following the singing of a couple old hymns. The pastor would invite people to come to the altar and many would go down there to pray. I quickly learned that if I was to appear close to God in my walk, I was to go down to the altar with everyone else. Often, I would kneel there at the altar thinking of anything and everything while waiting for the pastor to say amen. Rarely if ever did this time involve me actually communicating with God or even more significantly, hearing from God. 

     I am certain that many at the altar were truly in communication with God and sincerely seeking to draw close to Him. That however, had not been explained or shown to me. This was also true in my private prayer time. I didn’t understand the significance and furthermore, the privilege of drawing near to God. While my prayer life started off as sincere, the sincerity was soon traded out for dutiful, repetitive shopping lists dropped off in passing to a Santa Claus figure I had concocted in my head. 

     The author of Hebrews makes it clear to us that prayer is so much more. When we approach God in our prayer life, it is not a duty, nor is it to be done flippantly. We are approaching the holy of holies to communicate with the One who defines holy. Prayer is a sacred conversation made possible by the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He bridged the gap between man and God with His cross and made a way for us to communicate with a holy God. As we approach him in prayer, let us do so with full assurance that He hears our prayer and come to him with sincere hearts, anticipating what He would say to us.

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God Takes the Initiative

“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” ~Psalm 145:18

     Not long after I was saved I read a booklet entitled My Heart, Christ's Home. It is an illustration of the process of Entire Sanctification and what it means to surrender our lives completely to Christ. The booklet describes different rooms of the home and relates them to the different areas of our life and our walk with God.

     As I read the book I was challenged in every area of the need to surrender complete control of my life to God. While I confess it took some time to finally reach the moment of full surrender, one particular portion of the book has never left me. 

     In describing the den of the house, the author equates this to the prayer room. He paints the picture of a cozy room with a fireplace, overstuffed furniture, and a coffee table with a Bible opened on it. This is a cozy and comfortable space. It is very inviting and a place I would want to come to often. 

     As he continues to describe the daily visits to “the den” he makes a point which I had never considered before but have never forgotten. God is waiting for me in the den. In other words, God is there before I get into the room. He has the coffee poured, the fire is already roaring, and He has prepared His very best for me that day in anticipation of His time with me. God is excited to meet with me and makes the first move!

     This radically changed my approach to prayer. I had never considered that God would anticipate my time with Him. It changed prayer from a duty where I had hoped to have an encounter with God to a time where I anticipated what God would share with me. I became an intentional listener and seeker in my prayer with an intentional and generous God. When we seek Him in truth, He is already near and has His very best for us! Praise His Holy Name!

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Ask And You Will Receive

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.” ~1 John 5:14-15

Oh Lord, won't you buy me
A Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches
I must make amends

     Those are lines of a song by Janice Joplin and while we may chuckle or laugh at the absurdity of the line in the song, it is an attitude with which we approach prayer sometimes. In fact, there are some who would teach that we can simply pray for whatever our heart desires and God will give it to us. As if he is some Santa Claus who just grants our wish, we are nice and not naughty. After all, why would a loving God not give his followers what they wish. We might even tote out the Scripture above as if it is the magical words to force our God to do what we want.

     I hate to burst some misguided theological bubbles, but that is not what this text means. If we carefully read the above text, there are four very important words in verse 14. “According to his will”. 

     The apostle John connects the Christians’ assurance of eternal life with confidence in prayer. Our confidence that our prayers will be answered must not assume that God must do as we request. As we ask, our asking will first change us. The text assumes that those asking will become more and more aligned with God’s intentions.

     The point of praying is not just getting things from God but getting “on the same page” with God. Prayer is not a technique by which we may gain just anything. Rather, it is a means of gaining intimacy with God. As we learn to ask … according to his will, we know God hears us. Surely the greatest benefit of praying is moving nearer to the heart of God. As we increasingly learn what God wants, we enter more fully into the joy of the answers we have … asked of him.

     In John’s Gospel chapter 15:16 he assures that “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name”; in 16:23, that “my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” John 15:7 is foundational: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” Christian prayer is always shaped by the words of the Lord and a healthy relationship with him.

     John writes to the believing community: If we know that he hears us … we know that we have what we asked of him. Believers may have confidence that God hears them, because they together ask in harmony with God’s will. What John promises is that those who sincerely seek the will of God in their lives will find it.

     Many sincere believers misunderstand prayer in “Jesus’ name.” They imagine that a tagline at the end of their prayers somehow obligates God to deliver on their requests. In fact, praying in “Jesus’ name” means asking consistent with the purposes of God working through Jesus, by the Spirit. 

     Praying in the name is to ask according to his will, never contrary to it. Petitioning God in the name means that we accurately represent the character of Christ in all ways—his life, death, resurrection, and coming rule. 

     Misguided, magic-oriented asking achieves little more than frustration. Asking outside of God’s will achieves nothing positive. When we pray in the name of Jesus we seek God’s will. Only in this way may we move forward with clear assurance. God, who put it in our hearts to pray in this way, is at work enabling the answer. That is, we have the request we have requested from him.

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Week 9

iPrayers

By: Mark Colflesh

Imprecatory Prayers

“Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!... May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.”                     

-Psalm 58:6, 8

     In Psalm 58 King David is torqued. Mad as a wet hen, as my mother used to say. In prayer, he asks God to destroy his enemies.  And it is not very nice language. But if I’m honest, in my head I’ve prayed similar stuff. Maybe not the slug imagery but curses just as strong.

     The prayer of David’s is called an imprecatory prayer. Imprecatory means to curse or call down judgment upon an enemy. And verses such as these beg the question – is it okay to curse an enemy? In prison I wrestled with this question long and hard because it was easy to put names and faces on my enemies. From this wrestling I settled on several guidelines to go by.

     1. It is acceptable and even encouraged to pray that those who stand in opposition to God be punished. Jesus called down “woes” upon the hypocritical religious leaders in Matthew 23. Paul pronounced any who preached a false gospel cursed (Galatians 1:8-9). And in Revelation 6:10 the martyrs beg God to avenge their blood.

      2. While my prayers are a powerful weapon against Satan and evil, prayer should not be “weaponized” for my benefit. This is a tough knot to untangle but let me try. Often the trial that I am going through is for my good. If God removed all opposition, my faith would become flabby and useless. So while I may pray for the defeat of my enemies, I should also pray for God’s will. If that means the enemies stay a little longer, so be it. Let me have the faith to stand anyway.

     3. While I can rejoice that Satan will get what is coming to him, I should pray that those who are enslaved by him will come to repentance and be saved. The prophet Jonah was angry when the Ninevites repented. He had come all that way to pronounce judgment upon those wicked people and then God had spared them. May that never be my attitude. Instead, let me rejoice when any enemies become my brothers or sisters.

     4. Every prayer should be for the glory of God. I should care much more about the advance of His kingdom than my own temporary comforts. The eternal kingdom should always be my focus.

     As we spend this year focused on faith, let us remember that prayer is a powerful weapon in our arsenal, maybe the most powerful. But let us never seek to use prayer as a means to further our own agenda.

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Intercessory Prayers

     The story of Job is a fascinating one that even many people who have not read the Bible know. “The patience of Job” was a common saying when I was growing up. To quickly sum it up – Job was a rich man who served God. Satan got permission from God to take away his wealth, and most of his family, all to see if Job would turn his back on God. What follows is a whole lot of arguing between Job and God and Job and his friends. By the time we get to the last chapter, Job is exhausted and admits he is done arguing. Then we come to verse 10 of chapter 42. “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” That’s it. The entire story pivots on that one sentence.

      When we focus our attention on ourselves, we block God’s blessings. Why? Because He will not reward us for bad behavior. When we are self-absorbed and self-pitying, we are making ourselves the center of the universe. What we want and don’t want is all we can think about. This infects our prayer life. Too often our prayers turn into a list of grievances and demands. But what we and the world need are intercessory prayers.

     Simply put, intercessory prayers are those offered on behave of others. It can be as basic as praying for a sick child or as complex as praying for persecuted Christians around the globe. Here’s the really important point. Your prayers matter. I’m not sure I understand why, but God listens to and is even moved to action. In Genesis 18 Abraham prayed for God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. While the cities were not saved, Lot and his family were. When the Hebrews built a golden calf to worship, God said He was going to destroy all of them. But Moses interceded on their behalf and God spared them. God listens when we pray.

     Intercession not only benefits others, but it also helps us as well. When we pray for others, we become more loving. Instead of being angry with, frustrated by, or worried about others, we are lifting them up with love (hopefully). As we pray, the Holy Spirit opens up our hearts and helps us to better understand and care for others. And with that new understanding comes peace. I no longer have to worry because I have faith that God will act.

     Finally, intercession improves our relationship with God. He is love. If we want to become closer to  Him, loving others is a great pathway. As we pray for them, we are allowed to see things through the eyes of God and become partners in His work. How cool is that? Very cool.

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Impatient Prayers

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

-Psalm 27:14

     We live in a fast world. We have fast food, fast news reports, fast internet, even fast answers. When I was in high school answering a question, such as how long did it take to build the Brooklyn Bridge (14 years), took going to the library and then searching for half an hour through the card catalog and the book shelves. Now you can get that same answer in seconds – while sitting at a stoplight!

     We are an impatient people, impatient with traffic, with store clerks, and, sadly, with God. When we want a mountain moved, we want it moved today! But God will not be rushed. Oh sure, He could snap His fingers and part that sea, but generally, that is not the way He works. Why? His deliberate pace is for our good.

     1. It toughens our faith. Romans 5:2-3 tells us “that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” If we got an instant answer to our prayers, we would not become stronger in our faith. James 1:3 echoes this. You don’t train for a marathon race by giving up after jogging 20 yards. Commit yourself to stretching your endurance.

     2. Waiting reminds us of who is in charge. Let me give you a hint – it is not you. God is not an ATM who dispenses blessings how and when we desire. He is sovereign. If you don’t know the meaning of that word, look it up on your Google thingy.

     3. God will not be late or early. At just the right time He will act. In building a house there is a proper order to things. We want to see the walls and roof go up. But before that happens there is much work to be done on the foundation. So, it is with us. God has to prepare us and the world around us for the miracle He has.

     If you want to see mighty things happen in your life and in the world around you, be patient in prayer. Let God prepare you, and then trust that His timing is perfect.

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Week 10

Building On Your  Prayer Life

By: Dallas & Kennadi Keck

Intentional Prayer - By Kennadi Keck

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;”

-Colossians 4:2 NKJV

     In college, Dallas and I had a professor named Mr. Nelson who taught a class on prayer. Some of the first assignments in the class included personal prayer sessions. We had to set a timer and commit to spend 20 minutes praying intentionally. If our thoughts strayed, we were to bring our mind back immediately to the throne of God and continue as we were. 

     I guess I had never put much effort into my prayer life up to that point, because that first 20-minute assignment felt like an eternity. I was surprised how difficult it was to stay focused the whole time. There were future similar assignments. Eventually they were 25 minutes long. Interestingly, the more I “practiced” praying and being deliberate to focus on God and avoid distractions, the more I learned to enjoy it. So much that, at some point, 20-25 minutes didn’t feel long enough. I started to look forward to investing time in prayer, instead of doing it begrudgingly to check something off my devotional list. It became a sacrament instead of a mere sacrifice.

     If we want to draw closer to God through prayer, we shouldn’t be surprised or unmotivated by the fact that it requires practice. That may sound funny to say - “I’m practicing my prayer life.” But sometimes focus requires practice. We often pay more attention when doing things we value most. Meaningful prayer can be a learning process. To savor our time with Jesus, there are small steps we can take to help.

     Choose a time of day for prayer when you’re most awake and alive. For some, this is early morning (or very early morning). Other people can focus better in the evening or at night. My husband prefers devotions at night. I prefer them in the morning. Figure out what helps you most.

     Minimize distractions. If you have the tendency to constantly want to check your phone, keep it in the other room during prayer time. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes it’s impossible to get rid of every distraction. Don’t let the possibility of distractions deter you from starting somewhere.

     Simplify the process. Prayer journals and devotion books can be helpful, but during your prayer practice time, keep them on the shelf. Thank God for the good you’ve seen Him do this week, humbly ask Him for what you need, and sometimes just sit quietly in His presence. Prayer is a conversation after all. We can’t do all the talking then be surprised we didn’t hear an answer.

     If you’re like me and seem to be more easily distracted than most, definitely consider setting a timer for 15-20 minutes to start. Then, so long as you start the timer, don’t check it until you actually hear it go off. Keep your focus. If your thoughts stray to what’s for dinner, or who needs picked up later, or grandma visiting next week, bring it back into focus and pick up where you left off. God understands.

     Lastly, remember to pray for more than just your own needs. That person on Facebook that asked for prayer and you commented, “Will definitely pray!” Yeah - add that into your prayer time. The persecuted believers in other countries, fighting for their lives every day because they pray to the same God you do - pray for them. You’ll quickly discover that 20 minutes truly isn’t long enough when you begin seeking God on behalf of others.

     Remember that God is looking forward to spending time with you in prayer, even more than you are. He will meet with you no matter your location, level of distraction, or available time.

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The Availability of Prayer - Dallas Keck

     So have you ever seen a bad situation happen where someone might reply with the comment “sending prayers”? It has almost become so overused in our society that it might have lost its true meaning. And that is if people are actually “sending prayers”? I for one have been guilty of this before. We tell others we’ll pray for them, but do we always get to it and why must we wait?

     There are a couple of situations that really touched me concerning some friends and their openness to prayer. Kennadi and I had traveled to Kentucky for a friend’s wedding and were seeing a lot of people. Well one of our friends, Caden, had asked about our situation as we were planning on moving. After we explained it all, without hesitation, he asked if he could pray for us. This was at the reception for the wedding

      Another time we were meeting with a friend and we were all having tough moving situations. But after we offered our prayers genuinely, our friend said how about we just pray right now? This was close to 11:00.

     The Holy Spirit may press on you to pray about something specific, but He doesn’t have to press on you always when to pray. Look at what the Word says. We are to “pray continually" (1 Thess. 5:17). To pray for one another is an extremely loving act, but I think it also holds a certain specialness when you do it in person. So I challenge you. If you say you will pray for someone, do it right then and there. Because if you are a procrastinator like me, you might just randomly forget haha.

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Week 11

The Lighthouse

By: Norma Ohrt

A Lighthouse of Strength

7 The voice of the Lord striked with flashes of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

-Psalm 29:7-9

     As I began to really look at Psalms 29 I was drawn to the phrase the voice of the Lord. Six times it is repeated how powerful the voice of the Lord really is.  I was in awe and taken back after I read this psalm how powerful our God really is.  To think our God with his voice can strip a forest bare, shake a desert, and with his voice break the cedars of Lebanon in pieces. I began to research the significance of the Cedars of Lebanon. The Cedars of Lebanon is a large ornamental tree that has different looks.  It can reach 130 feet in height and the trunk can reach 6 feet in diameter making it a mighty tree. To think that God's voice could break a tree like this into pieces is beyond my comprehension. We cannot fathom the greatness of God. If He can do all this by His voice, there is nothing He cannot handle, nothing He cannot heal, and nothing He cannot restore in my life. 

     Every season I go through in life He is more than capable of seeing me through no matter what. I love lighthouses and have a picture of one that shows waves crashing into the rocks on both sides. Behind the lighthouse you can vaguely see two hands, one on each side of the lighthouse with palms up; reaching out. He is continually reaching out and letting us know He is more than enough. Though we may feel tattered, worn, beaten down, shaken, helpless, disappointed, rejected etc.  No matter what we are going through, God is powerful enough, He is great, and He is mighty enough to protect us, to save us, to give us victory, to give us encouragement, to deliver us, to free us, to restore us, to heal us, to make intercession for us. In Matthew 8:23-27 we read where Jesus got in the boat with His disciples. Jesus was sleeping and a furious storm came up on the lake and the waves swept over the boat. The disciples went and woke Jesus up asking Him to save them as they were about to drown. He said to them "you of little faith, why are you so afraid?"  Jesus got up and rebuked the winds and the waves. They were amazed and said “even the winds and waves obey Him.” What a demonstration of God's intervening power in the storm, in the storms of life we face. Even if the waves try to engulf me, I will not be afraid, I will stand firm, and cling to the rock, who is greater, stronger, and mightier. Who is our powerful God? God's power will intervene for us and make intercession for us on our behalf if we let Him. He is our anchor, He is our mighty fortress, He is our stronghold, and our defense. For nothing can stand against the power of our God. By His power He can remove the mountains that at times may seem insurmountable. We all have not so good days but, by His power, His strength, and my faith in Him I can conquer anything, and I can overcome anything by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ that lives within me.

     Nothing is too big or too small for Him to handle as He created the heavens and the earth by His great power and how much more He cares about and loves you and me.

     The last verse of Psalm 29 reads “the Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.” We are not defenseless, for the same power that rose Jesus from the dead lives in me, lives in you. He has the power to break every chain in my life that is weighing me down that is hindering me from giving my all to him, my very best to him.  

     God demonstrated His power to me personally when I tried to tell Him He could not take my mom from this earth.  He had to show me that I was not in control but He was. Every test my mom had resulted in all hope being lost and I had to learn to trust Him and lean upon my powerful God who would take me through this storm.  My joy seemed gone and I continually asked God to restore to me the joy of my salvation.  In His perfect timing He did restore that joy to me and that could have only happened because of who He is and by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

      We could not be in better hands than in the powerful hands of Jesus.

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A Lighthouse of Hope

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

-Romans 12:12

     Generally speaking everyone has a bucket list.  If I had one, I would place at the top of mine, a trip to see a lighthouse.  I love lighthouses!  They are a beacon of protection to warn a person of the dangerous, shallow rocky coasts, and help guide vessels in and out of the harbor. They keep vessels from crashing or getting wrecked.  

     This is what Jesus is to us.  He is our lighthouse through life. He is our anchor.  We can feel secure knowing he is always watching out for us even when we walk through the storms of life, the different seasons of life, and the valleys we travel through.  He is our protector and He will keep us from crashing and being tossed by the fiercest of storms.  We can trust God to shine bright in the darkest of night, in our darkest hour; providing us the protection and the guidance we need. He is more than capable of steering us out of the storm into the right direction we need to go.  

     The world has many voices which serve to misdirect us and u;timately guide us into dangerous waters. However, when we are led by God and led by His word, and by the Holy Spirit that lives within us we find safety. Though the seas may be rough around us, Christ guides us through and helps to keep the vessel from being capsized. 

     Jesus tells all who are weary and heavy-burdened to come to Him and He will give us rest. (Matthew 11:28)  He will help us. He will always remain present with us. We are never alone. He is never far away.  Though the storms may rage we can know that the power of our God will sustain us. We will not be shaken! When He is for us; who or what can be against us?  God, who never slumbers nor sleeps, who created the heavens and the earth by His great power, He who is capable of doing anything, awesome in power, can and will deliver us from all things. 

     I have asked myself on different occasions if I am willing to step out of the boat when the storm is raging? Will I walk towards God with my eyes completely on Him, trusting Him, and not be afraid?  Can I sing “my God is greater, my God is stronger, my God is higher than any other, my God is healer, awesome in power, that is my God”? 

     One of the storms of life my family faced began over a year ago when my sister-in-law who has MS was very sick. Her heart had stopped and she was placed on a ventilator. In fact, I thought this was it and that life was over for her. I did not think she would pull through/survive from the infection and other things medically that were going on. I truly thought I would shortly be on a flight headed for a funeral, but God in His mighty, awesome power, began to change things for her physically. Things began to happen and I can tell you that God intervened through a doctor, and suddenly we realized there was hope. She had a fighting chance!

     We can rest assured that God's timing is always perfect. After four months of being in the hospital my sister-in-law was released. She is doing well and knows without a doubt that God miraculously healed her. Even the doctors were amazed by her recovery. Only by God's divine power and intercession is my sister-in-law here with us today. 

May I only boast of Him for He deserves all the praise and honor due unto His name. I pray God will be your beacon of hope. May He be your lighthouse, the one you always turn to in those rough times when you don’t seem to understand. He will always carry you through. Draw close to Him and He will draw close to you. (James 4:8) Remember, His light never goes out. 

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A Lighthouse of Life

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

-John 8:12

     We have all had what may be considered a “dark night of the soul”. These are the moments and places in our journey when hope seems so far away. When either through tragedy, sadness, or personal choices, we find ourselves feeling separated from God and emotionally and spiritually desperate. 

     These dark moments are often accompanied by feelings of despair because we seldom know how we got to that place. We also do not know which way to turn nor where to look to find the solace and comfort we need. We may know that God is out there like the safe harbor to a boat, but we can’t see Him or feel them to know how to find them.

     Jesus tells us that He is the “light of the world”! He assures us that we do not need to walk in darkness. Through the Holy Spirit and His presence in our life, He is our guide out of the darkness. We can rest assured that He is there for us. As we call out to Him in those dark moments, even when we are not sure what to pray, He will guide us home. 

     Romans 8:26-27 tells us that the Holy Spirit will pray for us when we do not know how to pray. What better image of a lighthouse can there be than to think that Jesus will guide us and He is interceding for us. When we cannot cross the darkness on our own, the light of the world crosses it for us.

     A lighthouse is the light that crosses the darkness, and the light that comes into the dark world symbolizes hope. Light defeats the darkness and brings hope where there may have seemed no hope. 

    If you find yourself facing moments of despair or darkness; I pray you will call out to Jesus and allow Him to bring you the comfort and hope that only He can bring. Rest assured He is not far off and He hasn’t left you. He is faithful! He is able! He loves you and He WILL lead you home!

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Week 12

Temptation & Deliverance

By: Pastor Mike Collins

A Model to Overcome Temptation

1“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”

-Luke 4:1-2

     When I was saved at the age of 16, I was coming out of a life filled with the normal temptations every teenager faces. I mistakenly believed that since I was saved, I would no longer battle these temptations and I would be elevated to the status of some manner of super saint. You can imagine my surprise and utter disappointment when that didn’t happen. Not only was I not nominated for sainthood, I still faced the temptation to sin. 

     Perhaps you’ve been there. I began to question if there was something wrong with me. Why was I still facing temptation to do the things I knew I shouldn’t? I felt so defeated and ultimately like a failure. This went on for quite some time. Then one day a very wise pastor sat me down and explained to me that this temptation itself was not a sin. He showed me in Scripture where even our Lord and Savior had been tempted. The key was to not give in to the temptation. Giving in meant sinning, resisting meant victory.

     While I was somewhat relieved, I still felt a burden because now it felt like some chore that I had to do. As if now it was my responsibility to resist all of these temptations. As I began to grow closer to God and was discipled properly, I discovered that it was not simply my responsibility. As I was filled with the Holy Spirit and drew closer to Christ and his Word, I became equipped by the power of God to withstand the temptation. Not only that, but I also discovered in his word the key to shut down Satan. It is the very word of God. It is what Jesus used when Satan tempted Him and is the model for us as well. 

     But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, is armed with Scripture. In Luke’s theology, Scripture is adequate to generate and to sustain faith. If Scripture is set aside, not even miracles will help. Three times Jesus counters the tempter with Scripture. Something interesting to note, the devil also quotes Scripture to support a temptation (Psalms 91:11–12), an indirect testimony to the central importance of Scripture in Jesus’ life. But Jesus discerns the difference between appropriate and inappropriate uses of Scripture. We also have this ability through the power of the Holy Spirit living within us and through our sharpening of our sword. As we read the word and we know the character of God, it becomes more difficult for Satan to twist the truth.

     Loved ones, temptation is the reality of living in a sinful world. However, it does not need to be our master. Jesus is our Savior, our master and our conquering king. In His victory over temptation, He has provided a way for us to be victorious as well! Praise His Name!

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Shelter from Pestilence

3Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

-Psalm 91:3-4

I have often heard the above verses quoted during times of trouble. I have even used them on a few occasions. They are often used to proclaim victory in deliverance. And while they certainly are a reminder of God’s provision and deliverance from Satan’s trap and the evils of this world, there are some things we need to remember.

     The focus of these verses is on God’s saving and protective role. God saves those who seek refuge in him from enemies’ traps (fowler’s snare) and natural disasters (deadly pestilence) (v. 3). These dangers are described in general terms, without identifying any specific threat. However, both imply “the danger of violent death”.

     The psalmist in v. 4 uses the metaphor of a mother bird hiding her young brood under her wings to describe God’s protection of those who seek refuge in him. The metaphor perhaps alludes to the outstretched wings of the cherubim in the holy of holies in the Jerusalem temple.

     The last line of 91:4 makes clear the meaning of the metaphor. Those who seek refuge in God will be protected by the shield and rampart of God’s faithfulness. Shield and rampart belong to a military context.

     The word, translated as rampart, is used to convey the idea of a walled enclosure. God’s faithfulness is portrayed as defensive weapons against any kind of threat against those who seek refuge in God.

     To understand God’s protection and refuge however is to look at the previous couple of verses. In particular, v. 2 which states: “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”. 

      The testimony of the psalmist, addressed to God, is intended to be heard by all who seek security and protection in the presence of God. 

      God protects and defends those who dwell in his presence. My God, in whom I trust indicates the close personal and trusting relationship the psalmist maintains with God. His profession of faith is lived out through his personal relationship with God. And so, it is with us. As we seek God and live in relationship with Him, we will seek the shelter under His wings. And what a mighty shelter it is! Satan has no ability to harm us when we are safe in the arms of God!

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Holy Spirit Take Me Away!

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

-1 Cor. 10:13

     Commercials in the 1980s were always entertaining. Perhaps you remember the one for Calgon bath powder. It always would show a stressed-out woman yelling “Calgon take me away”. The commercial would then cut and modestly show her soaking in a bubble bath completely relaxed as if all of the cares of the world had been taken away. 

     Reading the Scripture above I feel like yelling something similar to that when facing the temptations of the world. Holy Spirit take me away! After all, God says he will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Wouldn’t it make sense that some days are just unbearable and we should just not have to face any temptation? Sounds fair to me. However, a closer look at the Scripture reveals a deeper truth as you might imagine. God does not have some meter over our head that says just how much temptation we can take and once we hit our limit for the day we’re done. 

     I do want to be clear about one thing though, it is not that God tempts us to do evil (James 1:13–14). Testing is part of the human condition in a fallen world—something that we encounter naturally. In every and all temptation we can count on the faithfulness of God, who has made a covenant to save his people (Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 Cor 1:6–9). God, not Satan, holds ultimate control over good and evil and prevents temptation from inevitably being destructive. Temptation is not eliminated, but there is always a way out so that you can endure it. In understanding the deeper meaning of this passage, we must look at the whole text. In a section dominated by examples of people putting God to the test with disastrous results for most of them, Paul recognizes that there is another side to the story in which the people of God are tested. He reassures them that God is on their side in their temptation as is shown by the fact that not all succumbed to it.

     And so it is with us, God is on your side. Not only that, He lives within you! And He that lives within you is greater than he which is in the world. He will provide you with a way out. When we seek Him first in all things we can be victorious over temptation.

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Week 13

Resurrection Stories

Pastor Mike Collins

He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. -Matthew 28:6

     He is risen! No three words have had a greater impact on the course of human history than “He is risen”. In the course of three days humanity went from hopeless despair to the epitome of eternal optimism.

     The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ took humanity from separation from our Creator God and bridged the gap that no human ever could. Through His sacrifice on the cross, the price was paid for our sins and Jesus’ blood paid our debt. With the empty grave, the victory over death insured our ability to have eternal life in heaven with Him. It was humanity’s resurrection moment.

     As Christians, we have our own individual resurrection moment. It is that moment in which we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is the moment we repent of our sins and acknowledge our need to be in a relationship with him. That moment looks different for each one of us. For some of us it is an instantaneous moment born out of crisis. For others, it is a gradual awakening born out of a lifetime of circumstances and encounters with the Holy Spirit.

     What follows over the next couple of pages and in our devotional for the next few weeks will be individual stories of the resurrection moments of our congregation. I pray you will be blessed and inspired by hearing the stories of your brothers and sisters as they encountered Christ and chose to follow him. I pray you will also be encouraged to tell your own story and to bear witness to others what Christ has done in your life. He is risen indeed!

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Becky Collins

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” -Philippians 4:13

     I had a rough start to life. Both my parents were alcoholics and mix that with some mental illness for my mom, it was just not a good start. My early years were full of physical and sexual abuse and neglect. Please don’t get me wrong, I know that my mom loved me and my siblings, she just did not know how to care for us. I also dealt with abandonment when my father decided he no longer wanted to be a part of our lives and left when I was 5 years old. When I was in kindergarten my mom decided that we would be better off with my aunt, so she bravely gave us up. I never felt abandoned by her. She was always in our lives. She just could not care for us and wanted better for us. That was when I was first introduced to God and Jesus. 

     We went to church every time the doors were opened. I was in Sunday School, our church's version of scouting on Wednesdays and Sunday evening services. It was at one of those Sunday night services that I first comprehended what it meant (as much a nine-year-old can understand) to ask Jesus into my heart. That night after the service my aunt led me to Christ. However, I didn’t truly understand what it was to have a relationship with God until much later.

     When I was going into 11th grade, my aunt, sister and I moved to a different town and started attending a Nazarene Church. It was much smaller than our church in Fresno and I began to see what having a relationship to Christ really meant. That is when I rededicated my life and things started changing in my life for the better. Don’t get me wrong though. I still had problems. I was still experiencing some verbal abuse and someone I really trusted took advantage of me again, but now I knew that I had a savior and that He loved me for who I am. 

     It still took me several years to get to where I felt I was a worthy person in this world, but slowly through so many different people that God placed in my life, I began to realize that I was worthy of love from people and not just God. I started coming out of my shell and got brave enough to venture away from my little town to go to college at the Nazarene College in San Diego. Boy am I glad I listened to God on that one! That is where I met Mike and went on to grow even more in Christ. 

     Philippians 4:13 states: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” This verse has meant a great deal to me throughout my walk with Christ. Before I was saved, I had a very low self-esteem and doubted my abilities to do the things God was calling me to do. I struggled in school due to learning issues, and I was very shy. That verse carried me through and taught me that I can do it with God’s help. 

     All five of my siblings struggle with issues that have or are still impacting their lives in a bad way. I often ask myself how I got so lucky to have the life I do. But really luck has nothing to do with it. I KNOW that it is because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that saved me from myself and my past. I pray every day that my siblings will find their way back to the truth that they were taught in church. I also pray that if you have not found a relationship with God, that you too will turn to Him.

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Debra Colflesh

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” ~Jeremiah 29:13

     I have always been in church. Yes, we were one of those families whose mom was a dedicated Christian and made sure her kids were in church on Sunday mornings, as well as Sunday and Wednesday evenings.  We also attended Vacation Bible School whether at our home church, our grandparents’ church or any gospel preaching church that had a VBS going. And it was at one of those churches where I made the biggest and best decision of my life.

     It was the summer of my sixth grade year and the church, who’s JOY Club we had attended during the school year, was holding VBS at my elementary school as they had no building of their own. During one of the lessons I heard the message that if I didn’t ask Christ to forgive my sins, I was going to hell. While this may not be the best way to love someone into the kingdom, it was a wake up call and I accepted the call. I have such a vivid memory of sitting in the hall under the skylight outside my 5th grade classroom and praying the sinner’s prayer. The sharpest part of that memory is the light. Yes I was sitting under a skylight and it was a sunny day but in my memory the light was even brighter than all that. The light of God’s love washed over me and I was set free.

     I wish I could say that there was a drastic change in how I lived my life, but there wasn’t. I continued to plod along attending revivals and weekly services at my church and others. Going to Sunday school and Youth Group and Youth For Christ events. We lived in a college town and had great college age leaders that brought fun to our group. We even got to travel to South Dakota to attend The Passion Play but there was something missing. Discipleship and the direct challenge to grow in Christ was what I needed. I knew there had to be more to reading God’s word, but I wasn’t getting it. I even spent my first paycheck on purchasing a Living Bible in an effort to gain meaning from The Word.

     Fast forward to my thirties and along came Winnie, who challenged me to seek what God would have me to work on in my life. My prayer time became more specific as I cried out to understand His word and he began to chisel away at the things in my life that were holding me back. A task that continues to this day because I still have to deal with bouts of temper or moments of “She Who Must Be Obeyed”. I still struggle with wanting to do what I want to do rather than serving my Savior. But I can say, I am not who I was because God continues to love and challenge me as do those around me.

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Week 14

Resurrection Stories

Gary Warkenthien

A Little Child Will Lead Them

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” -Matthew 19:14

     I was born in Sydney, Iowa as an orphan. I was taken shortly after I was born to an orphanage where my new family adopted me and took me to Waterloo. My parents were loving and hardworking people. My mom went to church every Sunday and insisted on taking us kids with her, but my dad refused to go. He was a loving and hardworking man but had no time or desire for church.

     Though my childhood was normal and fun, school was never a major priority for me. I followed in my father’s footsteps and went to work in the factories, first with Viking Pump and then with John Deere. I had always battled minor illnesses growing up and discovered alcohol as a way of self-medicating and quickly became addicted to it. 

     After marrying in 1968, Bonnie and I had three children. It was after our third child, Dawn, that God began to break through the addiction and my selfish behaviors. Our daughter was born with a severe debilitating illness which would eventually cause her death at age 14. But in those 14 years, I saw God move through her life, the people around her and as we met other children who were bravely battling similar issues. 

     As I became aware of God and His hand in my life, I confess I didn’t respond right away.  Our neighbor, Martha Harmon, invited us to church and eventually brought us to the Nazarene church. Pastor Preston invited us to lunch, and we found a community of people who loved God and loved us. Eventually, through the teaching and love of others, I became aware of my need to follow Jesus in my life. 

     Since then, I have seen His hand in my life through giving up alcohol and a nicotine addiction and His ability to help me overcome a sense of inferiority in my life. I continue to walk with Him and He continues to show me a sense of calm and joy every day.

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Bob Schillie

“17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” -Ephesians 3:17-19

     When I started to think of my faith journey and where it all began it took me back to remembering Mom taking us kids to church when we were young. But I wouldn't say I grew up in a Christian home by any means.

     I was probably 15 before I realized that you needed to have a personal relationship with Jesus. This all came about at a showing of the movie “A Thief in the Night" being shown by the local Youth For Christ group. For those not familiar with it, it is about the second coming of Christ and how those who are not saved are left behind. Long story short, I went up front after the movie and prayed the sinner’s prayer with a group of other teens. I don't believe I told anyone about it. I do remember after mom came to pick me up she was upset that I took so long to get outside so I never told her about what had happened to me.

     But I did start attending Sunday School and Church on my own so there was a seed planted. I continued to attend throughout most of my teen years going to Youth Group activities. But I was not growing in my faith at all due to no prayer life or Bible reading. I eventually stopped going to church and forgot all about God. But Praise the Lord that I have a God Who did not forget about me and had a plan for me!

     His plan had me meet and fall in love with Delaine. Through getting married to Delaine and moving to Cedar Falls His plan for me began to unfold. I had settled down some but was not living as a Christian. Delaine wanted to attend her home church, the Cedar Falls Church of the Nazarene. It was there through the prayers of Delaine and her folks Gene and Marvel Rittgers and loving church members that things soon changed.

     There was a Revival going on with Rev. Bob Swanson. I can't even recall what he preached on. But during the altar call I responded and recommitted my life to Jesus as some say but I believe I truly opened my heart fully to Him at that time.  

     Fast forward to the present and I'm continuing to grow and learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I feel very blessed to have a church family who shows me what it means to love as Christ does.

     I'm so thankful that I have a wife & a Savior who both never gave up on me!

     Praise The Lord!

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Kimberly Milner

“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17

     I was saved back when I was seven years old. It was during a summer revival and my Dad went up to the altar with me and prayed with me. Now, I grew up in a Christian home with Godly parents. I watched as they did their devotionals and Bible reading every day. They lived out their faith. Even back then I could see the difference in their lives to the lives of the parents of my school friends. 

     As we moved around a lot due to the Air Force, I had a lot of people I could compare to. They were and are good examples for my life and I will always be glad God gave me them. I was baptized later that year. While I did start to try to live more like what I was being taught in Sunday School, I knew there was a lot more to it. As a young teen I started to realize that I needed to embrace my faith more on my own rather than what my parents were doing. I took more interest in the lessons in Sunday School, teen group and the teen district activities. I also started to read my Bible more. That was the first time I read the Bible all the way through. 

     When I was sixteen was the first time I realized I needed to be sanctified. I will admit that I did think about it for a couple of weeks knowing that to take that step would be a big commitment. It did come to a point after Encounter ’96 that I fully committed to Christ and asked God to sanctify me. It was a Sunday Morning service. Being around that many teens and adults who were Christian and living out the life of service in Mexico helped drive it home. Seeing all those teens and adults enthusiastically serving God building churches, teaching vacation Bible school, performing songs, and plays about Christ, talking to people about Christ, helping people with day-to-day needs was an eye opener as to both radical faith and day to day faith in Christ. I started to do devotionals and daily read my Bible rather than every couple of days. I also decided that prayer had to become a more important part of my life. It took a while for it to become a habit of prayer and reading. I had to commit to making sure I took the time and stop worrying about not having time to get everything done I needed and wanted to do. 

     As I started college, God brought me into a deeper understanding as to what it means to be fully His and what my personal faith would look like. It is there that I understood why my Dad had us at Church whenever it was open unless we were sick. I started to understand why my parents chose to do work for the church as a Sunday School teacher in my mom’s case and church Treasurer and Board member for my Dad. I started to understand more about why they did what they did. It was in college that I told God He could use me as He saw fit. Anything inside or outside the church that He wanted me to do. It was in college that I taught my first lesson for kids on my own. I had always been part of the church choir/worship team. That is something God gave me early on. But it has grown in meaning over the years and has become an integral part of my daily worship as well. I have always been able to best express my feelings through music. There have been times in my life that I haven’t known what to pray and God will give me a song either in my head or on the radio and it becomes my prayer. This was especially true when my Dad was first diagnosed with cancer and when he died. While I haven’t had a radical change like some, God has changed me little by little over the years to be more like Him. I see myself growing in the fruit of the Spirit (especially learning more patience).

     I have learned over the years that where I don’t have words, God does. Where I can’t speak, God still listens. When I am too overcome with sorrow, God comforts. When I am scared or uncomfortable, God gives me courage. When I mess up, God is there to pick up the pieces with love and forgiveness. 

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Week 15

Peace

By: Becky Collins

Finding Peace

  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  -Jeremiah 29:11

     As I shared in a previous devotion, my life before Christ was hectic. Aside from the dysfunction in my family unit, we also moved around a lot. My first five years we lived in many different cities and houses around the central valley. I did not know what peace was or that it even existed. Once we moved in with my aunt, we stayed in the same house until we moved cities my junior year of high school, but still I had no peace.

     I was a worrier. I was quiet, never caused problems and never got into trouble, but I kept everything inside and I was a mess in my own mind. No one ever knew it. I was good at hiding what was really going on. I developed an ulcer in my stomach when I was in high school that stayed with me even into early adulthood. When I began to grow in my walk with Christ, I started to learn that I needed to trust Him. That was a hard concept for me because I had been hurt so much already. But, little by little I started to trust him first with the little things in life like finances and where to go to college. In every situation, He never let me down.

     It was not until I was well into my college career that He started nudging me to trust Him with the big things in my life that I had not yet let go of.  The first was my secret. Up until then I had shared this secret with no one. The year I met Mike, we spent a lot of time together as friends and I finally felt that I could trust someone with my secret. One night I just spilled it all out to him. Over the course of the rest of the school year Mike walked with me though the pain and shame I felt over what happened to me when someone I trusted took advantage of me. I felt it was my fault. 

     When school was over and it was time to go home, I knew that the time had come to trust God with my secret. You see, the one that betrayed my trust was the husband of someone I loved very much, and she was very important to me. God revealed to me that I needed to tell her the truth so I could finally be free of this secret. I still blamed myself and was ready for her to be angry with me and never want to see me again. It took all the trust I had in Christ to tell her, but when I finally did, instead of being angry she hugged me, cried with me for what I went through and even firmly assured me it was not my fault. OH, the peace that came over me! For the first time in my life, I finally understood what God’s peace really meant. For He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you! Wow, I trusted him, and he had my back! I did not realize it at the time, but it was then that my ulcers went away as well.

     The second big thing I needed to trust God with was my heart. I always guarded my heart closely. I was a very affectionate person, I loved to and still do love to give hugs, but I was not free with my heart. But God knew that and allowed me to build a friendship and ultimately, and unknown to me at the time, allow my heart to find love at the same time. Throughout our friendship, Mike did some things that we laugh about now that really should have hurt me, but I feel like God protected my heart because I trusted him with it, because I never got hurt by them. Again, I am so glad that I trusted God with my heart. 

     So, what I learned from all of this is that if you trust God, it leads to peace, and peace leads to Joy. Trust Him! He has plans to give you hope and a future!

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Keeping Peace

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

     Several years back a big change in our lives looked like it was coming. It is something that I really wanted to happen, and I thought was God’s will. To my surprise the door closed. It was the first time that had happened so clearly that I knew it was God saying no. I have a confession to make. I got a little mad at Him. I pouted for a few days, but then got over it and moved on. Or so I thought. 

     Fast forward a couple of months later and I felt like something was missing in my life. I could not figure it out. One day when I was on a long drive home from dropping Mike’s mom off in Missouri I was listening to music and talking to God about how I was feeling. A song came on the radio that I had never heard. It is by one of my now favorite singers, Lauren Daigle. The song was Trust In you. When I heard the verse that says,

 “When you don’t move the mountain, I’m needing you to move” 

“When you don’t part the waters, I wish I could walk through”,

 “I will trust in You”

     I just began to weep. I knew at that moment that I had stopped trusting Him and therefore lost my peace and joy. You see I thought I knew better than God what I needed and stopped trusting him when that door closed. Later, I realized why God closed the door and then understood why he said no. It would have been a bad situation. Imagine that! God knew better all along!

     I learned then that leaning on my own understanding is where I went wrong. That if I continue to trust Him, He will keep me on the straight path. Trust Him! You just can’t go wrong if you do, and you will keep your peace in God.

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Sharing Peace

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” -John 14:27

     One of my sisters is really stuck in the past and all that has happened to her. She won’t let go of anything and dwells on it every day. I so desperately want her to find the kind of peace that I have, but she is just not understanding. Now that I have learned to trust God and as a result have an everlasting peace, I want that for everyone. My sister’s heart is so troubled, and I have the answer if she would listen. 

     So often people look for peace and joy in all the wrong places. For my sister, she looks for it in a marijuana joint. She says it is the only thing that can calm her. My other sister finds it with alcohol so that she can just forget everything. If they only knew the peace that I have found they would be so much better off. 

     If you are like my sisters and are looking for peace, turn to Him and trust Him with your life. Don’t be afraid any longer because He will give you peace!

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Week 16

Resurrection Stories

Dave Collins

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
-Isaiah 41:30-31

Having been raised in a Christian home, especially a pastor’s home, I often hear people say, “oh you must be perfect” or “you’ve never struggled with your faith, you’re the best type of Christian.” Let me tell you now, that is far from the truth. Being a Christian can have its ups and downs, and as a pastor’s kid (PK), people expect us to always have “ups” and that “downs” are non-existent, because our household is clearly holier than thine and life is dandy. Lol yeah, that’s definitely not how it is.

     That mentality being pushed at us and it being all we hear from our peers and friends can take its toll. It forces us to keep everything close, to wear a mask and pretend that life really is perfect like everyone expects. After all, we don’t want to be a failure.

     But this isn’t about pastors' kids; it’s about me. 

     Growing up, I really did have a pretty good life. I have parents that love God and love me. I have wonderful siblings that I tolerate, and I might even say I love them. Life has dealt me a pretty good hand. For my whole childhood, I believed that because my family was so close to God, I was a born-again Christian by proxy. I thought I was good to go and never had to worry.

     When I was about 14-15, I started to battle depression. I had no desire to do anything, and I felt like I was isolated and alone. I felt that no one truly loved me and that they were all pretending. But I didn’t want anyone to know this, after all, I was a PK, I had to have my life together. So, I put on a mask. When I was with people, I acted happy, I acted like my life was perfect. Even to my parents. But when I was alone, I was losing a battle I didn’t know I was fighting. A battle for my soul.

     This finally came to a climax on January 24th, 2013. I had been fighting this battle for over a year, I was tired and failing. The enemy was in my ear telling me to give up. I finally gave in and decided to give up. At that very moment I decided to give up, the radio in my room turned on. The song that was playing was “The Last Night” by Skillet, and it was on the chorus. The lyrics are:

“This is the last night you'll spend alone
Look me in the eyes so I know you know
I'm everywhere you want me to be
The last night you'll spend alone
I'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go
I'm everything you need me to be”

     To this day, I can’t tell you for sure what caused the radio to come on, except I know it was not an accident. When I heard those lines, as they resonated in my brain, I no longer heard the enemy telling me to give up. I heard Jesus. I heard him calling me to Him, through those lines, and the music. I knew that He was in control, and I had no reason to fear or worry. At that moment, the tides of the battle had turned. I was no longer losing; Jesus was helping me win it. 

     From there, I started to beat my depression. I no longer felt isolated. I knew I wasn’t alone, I had Jesus by my side, helping me get through every day and to see the positives in life. It wasn’t an instantaneous switch, to this day I am still learning how to lean on Him and trust in the word. But I know He is with me, and I know that I am not alone through my depression or anxiety. I pray my story can help you see what I’ve learned through the years: Jesus is with you. Jesus will help you. All you have to do is trust in Him.

    This may be my story, but this isn’t about me; it’s about Jesus.

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Cynthia Stevens

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 

-2 Corinthians 5:17

     I grew up in a Christian family. Every week we drove from Denver to Maywood to attend Sunday school and church. It was just what we did. We prayed before meals. We prayed when we went to bed at night. Jesus was “routinely” there. Things were peaceful and we were content … until things were neither peaceful or content.

     In my 4th grade year, my mother decided she would go back to school to earn a degree. She started taking classes for civil engineering. My dad did not approve. To make a long story short, it ended with a divorce. My mother, sister and I left our home in the country and moved to a tiny house in Evansdale. Eventually the house we left was sold and the assets were divided. I really missed living there. After all, it had once been peaceful and content.

     Dad would not pay child support. He thought that without financial resources, my mother would surely have to go back to him. So we were left on our own. Things were difficult. Both of them would verbally berate the other in our presence. It was a financial struggle. Ma had stopped going to church, as did my sister. Dad kept going. Neither one of them were acting very “Christian” at the time.

     By now I was in 7th grade. I continued to try to maintain a relationship with my dad, but it was very difficult. After a heart attack and bypass he eventually moved to Arizona for a warmer climate. I continued to write and visits were few. I felt rejected by him. Now in high school, I longed for some kind of father who would love me. I made an attempt to build a relationship with my stepfather, but he wasn’t really interested. I felt another rejection. What was wrong with me? Why didn’t either of them want me?

     Through all of this, one thing in my life remained consistent - church. Going to church on Sunday was always there, so that is what I kept doing. I taught Sunday school and Wednesday night classes for little kids. Church continued to be consistent. It was one thing in my life that was consistent. And Jesus was “routinely” there. My grandma started going with me more consistently too. She was the one person in my life that was there for me when everyone else was wrapped up in themselves. 

     In 1988, I graduated from high school, with honors. I was going to UNI in the fall, but before then, I was going to have my wisdom teeth removed. Oral surgery. (I only had 2 wisdom teeth, so apparently I was smart, but not very wise.) The night before surgery, I thought about my life and where I had been and where I was going. I knew I was joint heirs with Jesus, but I wasn’t sure I was going to inherit. I never saw Jesus as a “father.” Those are the guys who reject you. But I knew He loved me and I did know this: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” ~John 3:16. Jesus was always “routinely” there. I believed in Him. I didn’t want to perish. I had learned over the years, though, that there was more to it than that. That is what I was thinking about.

     Romans 3:23 told me that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All of us? Was I a sinner? I went to church. I had read or listened to the entire Bible. I was nice to people. I was respectful to my elders. I didn’t swear, smoke or drink. I wasn’t promiscuous. I was a rule follower. I taught Bible lessons to little kids at church.  But . . . I didn’t regularly read it or pray. Why did I need to? Jesus was “routinely” there. I did make some bad decisions. I tended to be bossy and critical of others. I looked down on them for not being “good”. I liked to fantasize about being somewhere else or even someone else. I had reasoned it out. I was part of the all, a sinner! And I was definitely not content with that answer.

     Being a problem solver, I dug deeper into what I had learned. What else did I need to do? Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” So alone, in my bedroom, as I often was, I prayed for Jesus to forgive me of my sins, come into my heart and be my Savior. It was July 22, 1988.

     Jesus was no longer “routinely” there. He was really there. For the first time, I didn’t feel alone in my thoughts. I craved spending time with Him. I was reading my Bible and praying. I was more content than I had been in years. I was certainly no longer going to perish. I was saved. Jesus died for my sins, I believed in Him, confessed my sins, and asked Him to be my Savior. When Pastor Stufflebeam asked me about why I had accepted Jesus as my Savior, my immediate answer was, “I needed Him.” 

     Jesus was my Savior. The world hadn’t changed. The difficulties in my life hadn’t suddenly gone away. They were all still there. What had changed was what was in my heart and the Holy Spirit now living in me. I was a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). 

The last 35 years have had trials and a lot of joy and happiness. I have been able to have love, joy and peace in my life again. Jesus, no longer just “routinely” there, has gone through it all with me. He was really there with me every moment of every day. He has walked beside me, led me and carried me through the valleys and mountain tops of my life. Even in the last few years, when I found myself wallowing in another valley, Jesus is still holding my hand and leading me out.

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Week 17

Faith and Science

Mike Stevens

Faith and Science

“I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!”

-Ecclesiastes 1:13

Faith and Science.  

How does the world see these two words?  Or views?  Opposites, conflicting, clashing… 

Over thirty years ago, I would have been unable to mesh the words together.  It was rather hard to grasp the concept that the world was created in six days. How was the world flooded for forty days and nights?  The Bible doesn’t mention dinosaurs, but yet I have a coprolite from my geology research in Wyoming. So, what changed?  What allowed me to mesh faith and science together?  Just a simple answer to a question from Pastor Terry Schmelzenbach.  In short, he told me, “So, what’s the problem?”  

Yes, that’s all it took.  

About twenty years ago, I was writing science benchmarks for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) in Missouri.  All was going well, then I was asked to write on the topic of evolution.  I had written on most of the Earth Science and Astronomy topics with no major problems.  However, all of a sudden I had writer’s block. Everything came to a halt.  I was stumped even though I had taught about evolution in my classroom.

Cynthia suggested to me that I needed to pray about it.  So, I figured it was worth a shot and prayed for guidance.  The next morning, I woke up not to write on a scientific concept, but with the need to talk to our pastor, Terry Schmelzenbach, at the time.  I was perplexed, but followed my thoughts to church.

When I got to church, I was talking to Pastor Terry about the dilemma I was having.  We talked for a while about my views on faith and science.  Pastor Terry asked me, “So, you believe that God created everything.”

I replied, “Yep”.

Pastor Terry asked, “And you view science as a way of understanding God’s creations.”

I replied again, “Yep”.

To which Pastor Terry said, “So, what’s the problem?”  

That was that.  It actually felt as though a big burden had been lifted.  It was okay to have faith and still have the inquisitiveness of science.  Quite simply, God created everything and I’m just an individual who likes investigating parts of the universe through science.  

And what do I mean by this…

No one individual, such as Newton, Darwin, Einstein, and Galileo, has been able to understand everything in existence.  However, over time,  individuals have laid down the scientific foundation by which we can have a better understanding of the universe.  It is from these foundations that we build our knowledge.

Therefore, faith and science can complement each other.  For without God’s creation of everything in the universe, would there be anything that would strike up a human’s natural curiosity in forming the foundation of science.  And wouldn’t science in turn have been created by God as well.

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Science in the Bible

“When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure.”

-Job 28:25

Science is indeed written in the Bible before science was called science. Probably, one of  the most important aspects of what allows life to be on Earth was written in the book of Job.  In science, the concept is called the water cycle.

Without water, life cannot exist.  In fact, Earth is the only place that we know of where water exists in the three phases of matter: solid (ice), liquid, and gas (vapor).  The fact that Earth has liquid water allows for life to exist.  Whether that life is swimming in the oceans as a fish; a plant with a morning dew growing in a garden; or an elephant drinking from an oasis in Africa.  Water is important.

And the way water moves about the Earth is called the water cycle.

Water can be in the form of precipitation falling on our heads.  It can be seen as runoff in streams or coming up from the ground as springs that we use for different purposes. Water can enter the air through evaporation of a puddle or being given off through the transpiration of a plant.  However, the last major part of the water cycle is what was written in the Bible in the Book of Job…

“When he gave to the wind its weight and apportioned the waters by measure.” ~Job 28:25

This is called condensation.

Condensation is what forms the clouds.  Without clouds, there is no chance for precipitation and the water cycle falls apart.  However, with condensation, the air gains water and builds the clouds that we see.  This is noted in the Bible. What is interesting is the water cycle itself was not “discovered” until the 16th century.

So, there is science in the Bible before there was science.

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Week 18

Obedience

Pastor Mike Collins

Obedience – Hearers and Doers

 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out—he will be blessed in what he does.

-James 1:22-25

“You’re all talk!” Have you ever thought that about someone? Perhaps someone comes to mind right now. Or perhaps, someone has thought that about you. No matter what, those are certainly not flattering words. Ultimately, it says that we say one thing but do something else. As unappealing as this might be in our everyday life it is even more dangerous in our faith.

What we really believe becomes obvious in what we do. It is not enough just to say we believe the gospel. It must make a difference in our lives. Those who do not take time to study and reflect on the gospel and its application for everyday living are forgetful hearers.

Citizens of the twenty-first century suffer from information overload. In this digital age we hear and read and see a lot of superficial data. But do we dig deeply into the wisdom of God found in Scripture? Doing the Law is important, not just in reference to our lifestyle, but also to the security of our future salvation. James reminds us how easy it is to deceive ourselves that we have done something significant, just because we have talked about it. Biblical illiteracy is not just a problem of the lack of study and reflection on Scripture. It is an extremely dangerous threat to our eternal destiny.

The word picture James paints in this passage is deliberately humorous. All of us have at least once become distracted while looking in the mirror. Another more urgent matter captured our attention, and we forgot to finish making ourselves presentable. In retrospect, this may seem humorous. But at the time it was embarrassing. This points out how ridiculous it is simply to hear the word of God and not do anything about it. Yet, sadly, we have all done this as well. It is difficult to connect our alleged beliefs with our everyday behavior.

Some Christians overemphasize salvation by faith. For them, salvation is only a set of propositional beliefs. This has blinded the eyes of some well-meaning Christians to the need to act on what they believe. The word of God was not given to “sound pretty” but to make a difference in our lives. 

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Obedience – But it is so hard!

John 5:16-30

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

“I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming—and is now here—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has granted the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

“Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

In today’s passage out of John, the Pharisees are having a problem with Jesus. Big surprise, huh? The problem here was that Jesus healed a man on the sabbath, thereby breaking the commandment, or so they thought. There is a problem for the Pharisee’s, they have become so caught up in their law…they have missed the point. They so loved their rules, that they have disobeyed the rule giver. Have you ever put the cart before the horse?

It’s easy to do. When our Christian life feels more like a contract that you have to uphold than a personal, intimate, love relationship…then something is wrong.

If you are more worried about keeping up your end of the deal in your walk with the Lord than you are loving Him and listening to Him, then something is wrong. The Christian life should not be a job.

When you have a job, you have certain things that you must do, things that you must accomplish, or you will be fired. You must show up on time, meet deadlines, production goals, sales…whatever it is for you.

If your Christian experience is a list of things you need to do in order to feel good…. go to Sunday School, got to go to worship, read the Bible, Tithe… or whatever you have added to the list. If you’re constantly wondering if you are keeping up with your spiritual contract, you have the wrong idea about Christianity. You have made it a contract or rather, you are living in a culture and not a relationship.

The Pharisees were doing everything contract style. Jesus was introducing a whole new way of living. What it means is the contract is gone…it’s not about a cold, calculated list of things to do…it’s so much simpler than that. Christianity is about a Relationship.

When you accept Him, there is no contract to sign, you don’t become an employee of God. When You accept Jesus Christ as Lord, you are adopted into the family, it’s not a contract, it’s a relationship that you have been given. This relationship is sealed with blood, it’s strong, it’s binding, it’s got power to overcome anything in your life, it gives you eternal life.

This relationship is not like any other kind of relationship that you have had. When you accept Jesus Christ into your life, He pours His Spirit into your heart….you are given the very spirit of Christ, living in you, guiding you, helping you, convicting you, encouraging you and so much more. Unlike other relationships….Christ is always with you.

Jesus demonstrated how this new relationship should work. Jesus told us that His Father was always at work, and because the Father was always at work, so was He. They were one in spirit, unified. And that is exactly what we can have with Christ…Oneness.

Loved ones, if you don’t have this Oneness, this connectedness with Jesus Christ…. then unfortunately you’re missing the very heart of Christianity. Good News…You can say goodbye to the contract way of living, and you can embrace the love relationship that God is calling you to, today.

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Week 19

God the Creator and Loving Father

Cynthia Stevens

God the Creator and Loving Father

God as a loving Father was not something I could understand. I couldn’t relate to that concept because I didn’t have a loving, earthly father in my life. I want to see God in this way. I have always craved a loving father.  In an effort to see Him in this way, I have looked to His Creation for help. Through it, I hoped to see how His love could be shown. I started to look at things in nature, thinking about their purpose, how they function and how they are connected to Scripture, and to me.

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God the Creator

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

-Genesis 1:31

“The grass is really green, does it really need watered?”

“No, it doesn’t, but the water makes the worms come up out of the ground so the robins can eat them.”

When I was little, that was the question I asked my Grandpa. He had a love for nature and knew a lot about it and how it all worked together. It was his love for nature that let him see God and eventually his own salvation. He shared that love with me and I have carried it through my life, even making a career of it.

In Missouri, I was a naturalist at a state park with a nature/cultural center for several years. A few museums in Iowa also employed me to present natural and cultural programs. I have always been excited to teach people about the natural world, how it all works together and how it is connected to us. 

Genesis 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I learned this in Sunday school and didn’t doubt it. After all, God’s Word is true. All of Creation certainly didn’t happen by accident. Even my Grandpa said, “Look outside, how can you not believe.” Genesis 1 has always been my favorite chapter in the Bible.

I have studied and interpreted many aspects of how science explains the world around us. The subjects are endless: geology, meteorology, astronomy, biology, botany, zoology, chemistry, and physics. And they all include bits and pieces of how things came to be. It’s a lot of information, but I haven’t found anything yet that contradicts the first chapter of the Bible. No matter the processes by which natural things are created, it is by God’s hand that it is accomplished.

King David said in Psalm 139:14 that God’s “works are wonderful.” I agree with him. It is so easy for me to accept and praise God as the Creator. In spite of this belief, I couldn’t see God as a loving father. What did that even mean? So I had to dig deeper into His Word to find that connection.

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God the Father

So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.

-Genesis 1:27

As the Creator, God also created mankind. The Bible is clear that He created them male and female. Then He told them in Genesis 1:28 to  “Be fruitful and increase in number.” So He used a male and female, my parents, to create me. I learned in Sunday school that we are all God’s children. If I look at it that way, He is a Father to me.

What did knowing that do for me? While there was no abuse, my own father’s neglect made our relationship basically suck! I tried to make it a positive relationship. Even at the end of his life, I tried to help him after he had a stroke. I felt obligated. Exodus 20:12 says to “Honor your father". It was also my hope that we could reconcile. But I experienced the same relationship with him I'd had when I last saw him. Was God that same kind of father? 

“Money, money, money!”

That was one of the phrases my father was able to recover after his stroke. At first, he was left with something called global aphasia. He could not say the words and he could not understand the words he heard. But everything else was intact. Slowly, he was able to use pictures and actions to communicate. Then some words returned, some garbled, and some quite clear, like the phrase above. His money was his number one concern until the very end.

I felt like I just wasn’t valuable or special enough to him. But was I valuable enough to my heavenly Father? Was I created special? Then I saw one of the multitudes of God’s tiny creations land on the car door. A snowflake! You may have heard that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. Most snowflakes are six-sided, flat crystals that look like lacy hexagons. Depending on the temperature, you may see other varieties. The Smithsonian Science Education Center says that snowflakes can be sorted into about 40 different types, but individually, there may be 10158 possibilities that two might be identical. (That is a 1 followed by 158 zeros.) The current world population is almost 8,000,000,000. (That is only 9 zeros.) 

If God took such great care to create that many unique snowflakes, did He take that much care to make me special? There are about 100,000 hairs on the average human head. Luke 12:7 says “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” It goes on to say “you are worth more than many sparrows.” 

You may be thinking, snowflakes, hairs, sparrows, huh? For me, it all came together to mean that I am special. I am a much more complex creation than two snowflakes with the astronomical probability of being identical. The Bible tells me I am more valuable than many sparrows. And He took such great care and attention that He even numbered the hairs on my head. God does love me enough that He made  me special!

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A Loving Father

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;  in your light we see light.

-Psalm 36:5-9

My father told me he loved me. He probably did, but was terrible at showing it. My stepfather of almost forty years never told me he loved me, and only twice did he ever refer to me as his daughter. What about my heavenly Father? I can see God’s love and care in the fact that, among all of His Creation,  He made me special. Did He love me just because I was His special creation, or was it more than that?

I was reading Psalm 36 when I saw something there that gave me my first glimpse of a truly loving father. It’s in verse 7 that I read this most loving gesture “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

There are many metaphors in the Bible, and this one said a lot to me. These last few years have been difficult. I have found myself often both physically and mentally exhausted. There seemed to be no truly restful sleep for me. So the exhaustion continued. 

Migratory birds travel great distances between their summer and winter homes. They expend a lot of energy to make these trips back and forth. Along their journey, they have to stop and rest. They have to decide how to tuck themselves in depending on how worn out they really are. They can sleep with their head facing forward, untucked, and more alert, but not a very restful sleep. Or, they can get a deep restful sleep, awaking fully ready to go on. In this case, a bird has to tuck its head under its feathers. This position slows their reaction to the sound of potential danger.  

I can “take refuge in the shadow of His wings.” Wow! God is a Loving Father. I can have a deep restful sleep in the shelter of His wings. He will do the watching and protecting while I rest. And He will help me recuperate the energy I need to go on. I can put my trust in Him for the protection and strength I need to get through the deepest valleys along my journey.  I can be reassured that the God I have never doubted as the Creator is also my Loving Heavenly Father.

Along my journey, I continue to look outside and can see “what great love the Father has lavished on us,” (on me) “that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” ~I John 3:1

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Week 20

Elements of Worship

Pastor Mike Collins

Worship

“Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” 

-Psalm 95:6

Five hundred years ago Martin Luther said that every Psalm calls us to worship. Each is designed to accent the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). We teach it to children this way: “Make God number one.”

God tells us to worship Him, not something or someone else. Notice that God considers it impossible that we will worship nothing. Many folks say, “I never go to church,” implying, “I am not a worshiper.” But doesn’t every one of us set our hope on something? We need to find meaning in something in our life. So we set our heart, our affections, and our energy on our career or family or the stock market (big mistake), or education.

We don’t usually say it, but we often think, “If I had this thing or if I could achieve that goal, then I would be worth something.” The English word “worship” comes from an old English phrase: “worthship.” We are shaped by what we think has ultimate worth. We all have something that is number one in our life. It shapes us. Jesus suggested that God’s kingdom should be the number–one thing that shapes us (Matthew 6:33).

Every person will worship something or someone. Only one object of worship guarantees us eternal life in heaven. I pray you worship God alone and seek Him first in all things.

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Baptism

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

-Matthew 28:19

I was baptized on December 9, 1990, in a Sunday morning worship service. It was a very sacred and special moment in my life as a believer. I was stating before my family and my friends that I had chosen to follow Christ and to leave my old life behind. It was especially meaningful for me because it was in a worship service the week prior that God placed a call on my life into pastoral ministry. So, in a very distinct way, I was dying to self and choosing to live for God. I was acknowledging before all what God had done in my life already.

Baptism is one of two practices that Jesus specifically told his followers to continue. Communion is the other. And by these two sacraments God communicates his grace to believers. It is often said that sacraments are a “visible sign of God’s invisible grace.”

Baptism points to the washing away of sin. And when a believer goes down into the water and emerges, that person is following a path like Jesus, going down into death and rising up to a new, indestructible life. There is nothing magical or special about the water itself. Baptism is symbolic but it is an important symbol and statement. This is God’s way of bringing sinful humans into his covenant family, the church, and marking them as his own.

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Communion

“Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

-1 Corinthians 11:26

The early Christians gathered to break bread. There would also be singing and preaching, but the breaking of bread was at the heart of their gatherings. They were “remembering” Jesus as they broke bread even though he was physically removed from them.

Paul gives us added insight about what happens at the communion table. He says, “You proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” How does that happen? What and how am I proclaiming when I take the Lord’s Supper? To whom am I proclaiming?

A little earlier, in 1 Corinthians 10:21, Paul talks about two tables —the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (The table of demons had to do with eating food sacrificed to idols—a common social practice at that time.) Today, as we live our lives, we may often be tempted to let something besides the Lord feed our hearts. If we yield to that temptation, we wander from God and associate with demons. When we take the Lord’s Supper, we tell the spiritual world that Jesus is the source of our lives. We tell the devil that he has been defeated and the curse of sin has been broken. He no longer has a say in our life because we belong to Jesus Christ. The forces of evil do not want to be reminded of this, but at the Lord’s table we celebrate with heaven the victory of the cross. May we be nourished at His table alone!

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Week 21

The Object of Our Worship

Marsha Gentry

BRAVO, GOD! BRAVO!

Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for His glory and strength.  Honor the Lord for the glory of His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His Holiness!
-Psalm 29:1-2 NLT

The choir of chirps and twilling tweets in a melodious mix of soothing songs outside my window. That’s You! That’s worship!

The heart-hugging happy laughter of a care-free kiddo.  That’s You!  That’s worship!

The Artist’s masterpieces displayed on creation’s tapestry. Soul-capturing sunrises and sunsets that sanctify the senses. Ocean waves orchestrated in a constant concerto of ebb and flow. Earth’s gallery of scenic splendor, heavenly hewn by the Master’s Hand.  That’s You! That’s worship!

Inspired words poured out in praise and prayer, through song and sermon, testimonies of triumph in trials – aloud or in silence. That’s You! That’s worship!

Humanity’s happy hailing to an extraordinary God. Saddened souls seeking solace. People pleading for pardon and purpose, for healing and hope, for guidance and grace. Freedom from fear. Restoration and refreshing. Victory in the valley. That’s You! That’s worship!

And that still small voice – when we silence ourselves, when we savor those “be still and know” moments. Those moments when Your precious presence encompasses us, silencing the noise, making us lie down in the green pastures of Your goodness, leading us beside the waters stilled by the Savior Himself.  THIS IS YOU – ALL YOU LORD! THIS IS WORSHIP!

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HEART OF WORSHIP

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is a spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
-John 4:23-24 NIV

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name.  And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
-Hebrews 13:15-16 NIV

The chorus in the song “Heart of Worship” reads:

I’m coming back to the heart of worship

And it’s all about You. It’s all about You, Jesus.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it

When it’s all about You. It’s all about You, Jesus.

True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above ALL things. Above EVERYTHING! Merriam-Webster offers numerous definitions of “heart.” Of course, there’s the physical one that beats inside each of us.  When it stops, so do we! While the heart of worship should be beating and active or we can die spiritually, the definition relating most to the heart of worship is “the essential or most vital part of something.” I’m coming back to the heart of worship – the essential, the most vital part of worship. And that essential/most vital part is You, Lord!

     TREASURING (to hold or keep as precious). PRIZING (to value highly). DELIGHTING IN (something that gives great pleasure). BEING SATISFIED WITH (pleased, content). All these inner responses toward God reflect His infinite worth and beauty.  That’s what worship was designed to do – to put the supreme worth of God on display – both in our corporate and private worship.

     To worship in spirit and truth means our attitudes are in check and our hearts are surrendered to God.  Our hearts and bodies are humbly postured before our Holy God. We worship Him authentically – genuinely and in truth – when we know Him truly (have a personal relationship with Him) AND treasure Him daily (hold as precious).

     Our worship – our inner valuing of our Creator and Lord becomes visible to the world through our verbal praise and our acts of love with our hands and feet – what we are willing to sacrifice to help others. Worship is about loving God! Matthew 22:37, 39: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  When you do this, that relationship overflows into loving others. “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

     Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.”

     We are daily living in the grace and mercy of Jesus.  Not a day goes by, not a breath is taken that isn’t a gift.  Worship humbles us, provides us with an opportunity to show gratitude for the goodness of God, and helps us grow in our relationship with our Savior. Let’s come back to the heart of worship and make it ALL about Jesus! 

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WORSHIP WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE!

Day and night they never stopped saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come…You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being.”
-Revelation 4: 8, 11 NIV

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
-Revelation 5:13-14 NIV

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God…
-Revelation 7:9-11 NIV

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
-Revelation 21:22-23 NIV

     In Heaven, there won’t be issues with crowd control, sound systems, and definitely not lighting! He’s got it covered!  In Heaven, worship will be ALL about our Creator and Savior. About HIS preferences of worship, not ours!  We will be privileged participants proclaiming praise and glory to the ONLY ONE worthy of praise – the One who gave His life for us so we could spend eternity in communion with Him!

     We will finally be complete in Christ! PTL! No longer critical hearts but rather hearts overflowing with praise.  Our focus solely (souly) on Jesus! No discussions or debates about differences in worship styles – no personal preference will enter in.  It will always and for all time be about Him!  Our minds won’t wander. Our squirrel mode will no longer be a “thing.” We will always be in the mood for worship – NO DISTRACTIONS!

     Our mountaintop moments; our God winks of grace; our prayer-closet, bended-knee, prayed-through, PTL victories here on earth are just a savory (Saviory) sample of the wonderous worship that will happen in Heaven in the literal presence of God! No one will merely mouth the words or go through the motions of worship.  It will be spontaneous, genuine, and exhilarating!

     I personally am looking forward to the promise of “making a joyful noise.” Singing to my Savior in Heaven will be a sweet sound, unlike my current resounding gong or a clanging cymbal! I’ll be on key and in tune! Woo-hoo!

     So how can we get into worship-shape for our eternal Heavenly home?  

• Start living every day in awe of His worth-ship!  

• Reframe your mindset to see every moment of each day we’re given as an opportunity to praise Him for who He is and thank Him for ALL He has done!  

• Even in the WHYs and I DON’T UNDERSTANDs, by faith, we can still believe, find strength, and take comfort in the knowledge that HE DOES!

     What will worship be like in Heaven?

Wonder-filled

Offerings (of)

Reverent

Sacrifice (and)

Humility.

Inspired

Purpose.

You will fill me with joy in Your presence.
-Psalm 16:11

WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE!

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Week 22

Math and the Bible

Mike “MoMo” Stevens

“As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” 
-Genesis 9:7

     In my last devotional, I talked about science in the Bible.  This time I thought I would look at math and see how it is mentioned in the Bible.  I’m pretty sure most individuals will recognize the verse above and note the word - multiply.  

     First things first.  Did God create math? Yep.

     In Colossians 1:16 - “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible… all things were created through Him and for Him.” The word ‘all’ includes science and math along with everything else.

     In school, we’ve learned that the basics of arithmetic are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Now, as a teacher, I will hear from time to time, “when will I ever use this.”  Everyone to a degree uses math every day.   Whether it is for shopping for dinner, filling up the car at the gas station, or just figuring out the time left in the work day by looking at a clock, math is used.   

     So, here are just a few Bible verses about math in the Bible.

Addition

Acts 2:41 - “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”

Subtraction

Deuteronomy 4:2 - Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.

Multiplication

Leviticus 25:8 - Count off seven sabbath years - seven times seven years - so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years.

Division

Joshua 18:5 - You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south and the tribes of Joseph in their territory in the north.

     So, why did He create math such as stated in these verses?

     First, as stated in Colossians 1:16, He created everything.  Math is just another way of God revealing the universe.  The logic, the order and the wisdom of math helps us solve daily problems, build things that are both large and small in scale, and overcome obstacles in ways that allow us to glorify God.

     Secondly, math helps us relate to God by implementing an overriding reason that the principles of arithmetic will always result in clear answers. We know that since God is perfect and perfectly made all things, He always makes math work perfectly. 

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Week 23

In the Way of The Father

His Children

Lessons From Our Fathers 

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
-Proverbs 22:6

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Rachel Bevins

     How do I explain my dad in a few short words? To the outsiders, our relationship looks a little odd. Most of our conversations are song lyrics or lines from movies. Don’t get me started when Christmas rolls around! :) I have seen my dad struggle and I have seen him soar. I’ve learned what it means to trust God. I’ve learned what it means to put family first. I’ve learned what it means to do what you can to provide for your family; even having to put your pride aside to do so. I’ve learned what to expect and how a wife should be treated. I’ve learned what kind of man I want as a role model for my son. I’ve learned what it truly means to love a spouse in a Godly way; and have a Godly marriage. We have the same sense of humor. We enjoy most of the same music and movies. I can’t imagine my life without him! ‘I have a dollar’.

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Debbie Colflesh

    My dad taught me how to make homemade ice cream, set up a tent, and maximize packing space. I credit him for my interest in watching sports, especially football. He also taught me some tough stuff through his actions, like what happens if you take up smoking or drinking. My dad wasn’t perfect, he wasn’t even always present, but he was my hero. He never knew a stranger; which taught me to step out of my comfort zone and say hello.

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Mark Colflesh

     My father was complicated. He rarely said he loved me, but I know he cried over me. He was a man with a temper but he could also walk into almost any store or restaurant in our town and be greeted by name. He was a man who was often frustrated by the results of his efforts but he never stopped serving the Lord. He lived by a simple motto - work hard and don’t complain.

     When my father died I found myself wishing we had shared more poignant moments. More hugs, more kind words. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much he had passed on to me. Mainly that life is to be lived in service to God and others.

     And here’s my favorite memory of him. On my 8th birthday at breakfast, he said he was not going to work and I was not going to school. I had assumed such a notion was a violation of state, federal, and Mosaic law. But on this day, we were going fishing with my brand-new pole. Since we lived in urban southern California, this meant driving a long distance to fish in a sorry excuse for a lake. We fished for a long time and caught nothing. But on that day it didn’t matter. My father had set aside his very important work to spend time with me alone. And that was how he said he loved me.

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Becky Collins

     Most of you know by now that I did not know my father growing up. That did not mean that I did not have someone who filled that role for me. My mom's brother, my precious Uncle Bob, was that person to me. If I have to pick one thing he taught me, it will have to be generosity. He was the kind of person that would help anyone with anything. Whether it was his time to help with something or if he had it he would gladly give money to people in need. If I am remembered in this way I will feel honored and blessed that it was taught to me by example.

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David Collins

     My dad has taught me many things throughout my life. He’s a pastor, that’s kind of his job after all. But the one that has stuck with me most, surprisingly, isn’t inherently spiritual in nature. It’s a very simple lesson, “Always leave it better than you found it.” He always told me this when it came to using other people’s stuff. If you borrow a car, clean it and fill the gas tank. If you rent a venue space, clean up and stack chairs. You get the idea. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized it can be applied to people too. Leave someone with a smile. Be the bright part of someone’s day. Maybe even leave their spiritual life better than it was. “Always leave it better than you found it” is good advice for objects, but it’s even greater advice for people. But leave it to a PK to take a standard life lesson and make it spiritual.

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Pastor Mike Collins

     My dad came to faith in Jesus Christ later in his life. He had spent many years in pain and suffering and had dealt with anger and bitterness. As he walked with Christ, I saw a continual transformation of healing and forgiveness. He truly sought after God and allowed God to change him. In my dad, I saw and learned what it is to be daily transformed by the Spirit of God.

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Jenny Ellis

     My father was very instrumental in my walk with the Lord. Devotions and prayer were part of the household. I admire my father so very much. You see, at the age of 60, my father was asked to pastor a rural community Christian church. At the age of 70, he was asked to pastor another rural Christian church. My father retired at age 80 and passed away at age 82. My father was always a very active leader in the church, but I feel he was called into the ministry before age 60. Yet God used him no matter how old he was or what church he was serving. 

     On a personal note, my father was always there for me. He showed his unconditional love when I was going through one of the darkest valleys of my life, the abuse of my infant son done by his father. Both my parents showed me love and support. My dad was quiet with words but strong with his actions. I remember how he let me rest my head on his lap. “I love you” was the message being conveyed by him to me. I would also like to add he was with me when I went to visit my ex-husband in prison, showing him love also. 

     My father’s prayer life was real and genuine. A truly beautiful example I can remember. 

     Thank you, Dad, for all the prayers, love, and understanding. 

     Love and Miss you, 
     Jenny (Beth) 

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Audrey Fimreite

     My dad taught us kids how to garden. He also had such a gentle and quiet spirit and he was never a yeller/screamer and taught us to have a quiet spirit toward others.

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Leila Mehus

     When I was thirteen, I went with my father to the store. He parked the car on a small hill outside the store and I asked my dad if I could move the car for him. He didn’t answer me and so I decided to start the car for him and before I knew it, the car lurched backward and hit the car behind us. Instead of getting mad at me as I deserved and expected, my father came out and simply took me skating as was the Saturday night tradition. My father taught me grace, not just then, but throughout my life.

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Kristin Milner

     I learned so much from my father it was hard to pick. But I decided to go with the most important thing, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) My dad taught me by example. Whenever I got up early enough, I would see him reading his Bible and praying. He always made sure we were in church, even when we were on vacation. And it bled over into every aspect of his life. My father loved God so much that he was an excellent example of God’s love to me. And when Kimberly and I went to college, he always asked us about where we went to church on Sunday, what the sermon and Sunday School lessons were about and our devotions and prayer life. He taught me to tithe and to give God the best of my abilities before using it for something else. I never had to wonder about my father. He was a godly man and it showed. I thank God so much for giving me him as my father. I know that I owe so much to him and his example.

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Norma Ohrt

     One of the most profound things my dad said to me that I will never forget at a significant moment in my life is not to accept anything less than God’s very best for you. What I was going through was temporary, but God is permanent. He would always be there for me.

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Bob Schillie

     My Dad was a hardworking man who was good at everything he tried. He was a friend to anyone he met & would do anything to help them. However as a father to us kids he really wasn't a hands on type of dad. Wasn't really involved with our daily activities or functions. He was not a mean dad but I don't believe he knew how to be a dad.

     So I would say he showed me how to not be a good dad. I know he was not a Christian while we were growing up. As I became a dad I had the example of a loving Heavenly Father & other Christian fathers to show me how to love and be a better dad to my kids.

     In his later years, Dad did change and was a better dad and an awesome grandad to his grandkids. Dad was never one to say “I Love You” but when I told him that I loved him it became his response to say 'Hey' which was his way of saying I Love You too. Then the last few years he even would say “Hey” first. 

     Hey Dad

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Delaine Schillie

     As I sit and think of my dad, I rejoice knowing the last 8 years dad has had a new address: "Heaven". I can still hear him say “did you pray about it?” & “what would God have you do?” Also “if you want to read something good, read 1st, 2nd & 3rd John”.

     Dad was a carpenter. He built churches on the Iowa district, even this one. Dad also headed up a missionary trip to Costa Rica where they built a church. He did wonderful woodworking which I'm blessed to have some of his work. He always said “measure twice and cut once!”

     Happy Father's Day Dad,
     Miss & love you.

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Grace Sliger

     My Dad taught me that God can change anyone no matter their circumstances. My dad grew up in a home governed by fear, fear of his own father. His father had a temper so bad that his own children weren't safe. My dad no older than 6 spent 3 months in a hospital with so many broken bones he was lucky to have survived. He let his father's anger grow in him and control in his life. But when he became a father he worked so hard to be anything other than the unloving earthly father he knew, he worked so hard to be like the loving heavenly father that never failed him. He tells me everyday he loves me, he tells me everyday I'm beautiful. And everyday I see how God molded me an amazing dad. 

     Don't ever feel that your past experiences ruin you or dictate your future, God can do amazing things, I've seen him make broken hearts whole again.

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Jacob Warkenthien

     My dad has always taught me that no matter what anyone says about me, I shouldn’t take it too seriously. He always tells me, “it isn’t about you”.

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Week 24

Jesus Is . . . 

Pastor Mike Collins

Jesus Is Our Rock! 

“As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
-Romans 9:33

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
-Psalm 18:2

When I first was saved, I learned a worship chorus with the first line: “Jesus is a rock, and He rolls our blues away!” It was a very catchy tune which quickly became stuck in my head. It is also a deep reality which over the last 33 years has become ingrained in my heart. 

Symbolism is used throughout the Scriptures to give us insight into divine truth. One such symbol is a rock. At least six different occasions Jesus is expressed to us in this form. Including the Scriptures from Romans and Psalms. 

Many images come to mind when we think of Jesus as a rock. We can think of security, power, and a firm foundation just to name a few. Jesus is most certainly our cleft in the rock. He is our place of security in an insecure generation. The revival fires are spreading throughout our country, there is a tide of evil and immorality in epidemic proportions. It would be easy to fall into a maze and quandary of confusion. But Jesus is our stabilizer. We can slip into His presence in their sift through the confusion and threat of the day.

Remember, loved one: Jesus is a rock of shelter for the weary and a rock of refuge from the storm. He is your Rock. You do not need to be afraid.

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Jesus Is the True Vine

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” ~John 15:5

As I have often made it clear, I am a city boy. I have no idea how to grow anything related to food in gardening or on a tree, let alone understanding healthy vines and branches. However, Jesus makes it abundantly clear the importance of remaining tied to Him and uses the analogy of the vine and the branches.

In John 15, Jesus begins the passage by telling us that he is the true vine. He lays down a pattern for the rest of the verses. There is a great deal of force in that first sentence. By saying He is the “true vine” and lets us know that anything else we remain tied to would be false or hazardous to us.

The emphasis was on the adjective true and with good reason. In the Old Testament the nation of Israel is spoken of again and again as the vine that Jehovah planted. But the covenant nation had failed to realize God’s plan or His ideal for them. The vine He planted was blighted by their sinful living. Their spiritual fervor was gone.

It was not enough to be a branch of that vine. Being a member of the nation of Israel was not enough to save them. Following the law could not save them. Christ was the ultimate healing, the true vine that Israel needed to be attached to, and He IS the true vine today. Wrapped up in Him are all the ideals, longings, and blessings of God’s plan for us.

Even today, Christendom is not the true vine, the Catholic Church is not the true vine, Protestantism is not the true vine. Crossroads Community Church is not the true vine. You can attend worship or hang around the fringes of the body of Christ and not be connected to the true vine. There must be a personal, individual, heart-to-heart union with the living Savior.

Looking at the metaphor of the vine and branches, we would do well to ask, am I vitally united to Christ as one of the spiritual branches in the living vine? I pray you ask yourself that question. Are you in the True Vine? If you are, then are you daily abiding in Him? Are you bearing fruit from Him? Is your character and acts of service bearing the fruit that testifies that you are in the vine of Christ?

Think about it, loved one: Jesus Christ, the true vine, calls us to be branches in his vineyard. What kind of branches are we?

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Jesus Is Our Living Water

Exodus 17:1-7

Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!” And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

In the previous devotional, I wrote about Jesus as a rock of shelter and refuge. In the passage from Exodus, we have the rock of Horeb giving water to the thirsty. The children of God who had escaped from Egyptian bondage, found themselves in the desert without water. God told Moses to go on ahead to Horeb. There he would find a rock. Moses was to hit the rock and then water would come forth.   1 Corinthians 10:4 says that the rock in Horeb was Christ. In other words, Jesus was the source of water for the thirsty.

What are you thirsty for today? The Scripture tells us that we should come to Jesus, and He will satisfy our need. 

Now, to clarify, this is not a statement of Jesus providing our every want or validation of some “name it and claim it” ideology. Rather, the idea is for us to follow Christ and to draw close to Him. As we do so, He transforms us, and our will is aligned with His. Jesus knows what our needs are and is the only One who can truly deliver our needs and therefore satisfy the very quenching of our deepest thirst.

Our souls cry out with pangs of thirst that can only be quenched by an infilling of the Holy Spirit. Like Moses in the desert, we must follow the directions Christ gives to us so that He can lead us to the infilling of the Holy Spirit which He generously gives. 

So, I ask you again loved one, what are you thirsty for? What are you truly thirsting for? Allow Christ to fill you and quench your thirst.

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Week 25

Freedom
By: Mark Colflesh

Freedom: Part 1

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

-Hebrews 4:16

In a 1941 speech, President Franklin Roosevelt talked about the four basic freedoms all Americans should enjoy – freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Most people are more familiar with Norman Rockwell’s paintings than with the speech. But as I was pondering the topic of freedom, the speech came to mind and how it applies to us as Christians. So, this week I am going to give a few thoughts on each of the points.

One thing I appreciate about my relationship with God is the freedom that I have to express myself to Him. We are not required to recite formal prayers or to have a priest speak to Him on our behalf. Rather, Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Not only can we talk to God, but he wants us to talk to him. Contrast this with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. They thought that the louder and the longer they shouted Baal might hear them. They even resorted to cutting themselves trying to get their god's attention. Our God hears us when we whisper, hears us even when we pray silently because He is always listening.

Unlike some other religions, such as Islam, who have a prescribed number of times for prayer, we can pray anytime and are encouraged to “pray without ceasing.” Our lives are to be an ongoing conversation with God. 

And God is not afraid of what we have to say. Make no mistake, we should never speak to Him arrogantly or disrespectfully. But when we come to Him with humility and honesty, we can say exactly what's on our minds. When we are disappointed or even angry with God, we can say so. There is no point in hiding it because He knows our hearts. Both Job and King David were amazingly blunt in their criticism of God, yet he still blessed them.

What a privilege it is to have a God who delights in hearing from us. And what wonderful freedom we have to speak to Him about the things that matter most.

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Freedom: Part 2

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

-2 Corinthians 3:17

     Our second freedom concerns freedom of worship. Those looking at our religion from the outside might assume we have all sorts of formalized rituals. This is not the case. There are very few required elements of the Christian faith. Baptism and communion are really the only two universal rituals. After that, there is a great deal of freedom given to us as worshippers. Jesus said that we were to worship in spirit and truth. Apart from that, we have tremendous latitude.

     Worship should always be focused on God and His word. It may include singing, but that is not required. It may include preaching, but even that is not requisite to worship. It can occur in church, at home, even in your car. Worship may happen communally or in private. Basically, worship is a way that we express our understanding and love for God. 

     In Romans 12:1, Paul wrote, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Think of that. The decisions you make concerning food, exercise, even sex are acts of worship.

     I Samuel 15:22 reads, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” We often mistakenly believe that God will be impressed if we give a bigger gift or fast a little longer. But, as our pastor has told us, God’s love language is obedience. He delights when His children make wise choices. 

     My sister-in-law is a flag waver at her church. That is how she connects with God and shows her devotion. I knew a man who said that he saw his work as a janitor as worship. He would praise as he plunged. Many of my best times of worship have happened as I sang along, loudly and off-key, to songs on the radio. It’s hard not to worship when you have “God of Wonders” or “How Great is Our God” cranked. Some people worship with pipe organ music, some with loud guitars, some in the silence of their own thoughts. The key is not how you worship but that you worship. That is where we connect with the living, powerful creator and sustainer of the universe.

     “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” ~2 Corinthians 3:17.

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Freedom: Part 3

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4:19

     The third freedom that I want us to consider is freedom from want. We must begin with the understanding that the world runs on want. “I want this” or “I want that.” Almost every sin can be traced back to coveting. Someone wants a better car, they steal it. Someone wants a better job; they lie to get it. Someone wants a better wife, he commits adultery. Advertisers recognize this hunger and use it to their advantage. Think of how many commercials promise that your want will be fulfilled if you eat their pizza, drink their beer, or wear their perfume. Sadly, none of those items provide lasting satisfaction. In a few weeks, a few days, or even a few hours, the hunger will return.

     The problem is that in seeking to fulfill our wants we are failing to see our true needs. Our need is not a full belly or a full closet. Our needs are much more basic but more important. We need to be loved, to be accepted, to feel that our lives matter. We have seen plenty of wealthy, beautiful, powerful people who were miserable even to the point of taking their own lives.

     The only one who can fill the hunger in us is Jesus. He said that he came to give us abundant life, bread that would keep us from hunger, living water that would quench our thirst. He is the Good Shepherd who gives everything we need. If we are sick, He is our healer. If we are lonely, He is our friend. If we are in danger, He is our champion. If we are confused, He is our source of wisdom. And most importantly, He is our Savior who breaks the power of sin and death. With Him in our lives, we can say like Paul, “His grace is sufficient.”

     “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:19

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Freedom: Part 4

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.“
-Isaiah 41:10

The final one of our four freedoms as Christians is freedom from fear. This is a huge one. We live in an age of fear. The 24-hour news channels make sure of that. We are afraid of climate change, of invaders at our borders, of worldwide pandemics. We are afraid that robots will take our jobs, that the economy will collapse, that an asteroid will wipe out our planet. Republicans fear the democrats, Democrats fear the republicans, and xenophobes fear anyone who isn’t from around here. All of this fear/worry/anxiety causes us to sleep too little, drink too much, and die too early.

Into this world of fear speaks the word of God. Someone once said that worry is caused by envisioning a future without God. That is truth. But there is a God and He is the solution to our problems.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” ~Psalm 34:4

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.“ ~Isaiah 41:10

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” ~Joshua 1:9

The Bible is packed with verses that remind us that we do not have to fear what the world fears. Because our God lives and reigns, we can face the future with confidence. The hope that we have is from God  and neither Fox News nor MSNBC can steal that from us.

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Week 26

Jesus is… Part 2
By: Pastor Mike

Jesus Is Powerful

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
-2 Corinthians 12:9

We love to play board games around our house. Scrabble has been a favorite of mine and my wife’s since we were engaged. When the kids were little, we would play a variety of different games with them but when they would go to bed, Becky and I would sit down, get out the Scrabble game and play. Occasionally however, the kids would want to play Scrabble even though they didn’t have near the vocabulary or spelling skills as mom or dad. When we defeated them, it really wasn’t anything to brag about because it wasn’t really a fair contest. The playing field wasn’t level. 

In spiritual warfare it is really the same way. Loved ones, there is no counterpart to God. It is not true that Jehovah is the “good God” and Satan is the “bad god.” God has no counterpart, no opposite. There are no other gods. God is high and lifted up and there is no one else like Him. Satan is a fallen angel. And angels are no match for Jehovah God. I guess you could say that it’s “no contest.” 

While Satan is no match for God, we as individuals in our own strength are no match for Satan. As a result, God gets the glory when Satan is defeated by our dependence upon Almighty God. Jesus Christ defeated Satan by conquering death on the cross and with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life we are able to live victorious as well. To God be the glory!

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Jesus Is Praying for You!

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
-Luke 22:31

Have you ever felt like you are facing a battle all by yourself? My guess is that everyone reading this devotional would answer, yes. At some point in our life, we have all been there. However, the reality scripture tells us is quite different. As followers of Christ, we are never alone.

In Luke 22 we have the familiar record of the Last Supper. Jesus has gathered the disciples, He has talked to them about His body and blood, and then in verse 31 He says, “Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 

Not long after this, as a matter of fact that very night, we have the record of Simon Peter’s denial of Jesus. It must have been a comforting echo in his mind to replay the words of Jesus: “I have prayed for you.” As you think of these words, I have some good news for you. Jesus has prayed not only for Simon, but also for you. I have some more news that is even better—Jesus not only has prayed for you but is praying for you. 

Whatever you’re facing, as hard as you’re praying about it, I want you to be reminded that you are not praying alone, but Jesus Christ Himself—think of it—Jesus right now is praying for you. Keep trusting Him. The Lord never promised that living the Christian life would be easy—but that it would be worth it.

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Jesus Is Relatable

     I could never be like Jesus! Have you ever felt that way? I know I have. Especially when I was a new Christian and learning what it meant to follow Jesus. 

In Hebrews 2:17 we read of Jesus that

“He had to be made like His brothers in every way.”

That is like you and me. The scripture continues:

“in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.” 

     We must be careful not to put ourselves at a distance from Jesus Christ. If we’re not on guard as we read of His mighty works, teaching, preaching, and living, we can be tempted to say as a kind of an excuse for ourselves, “But He was God and we’re not.” 

     True, He was and is the Son of God, but if I put too much distance between Himself and myself because of His unique relationship with the Father, I have missed the point of the New Testament. 

     Christ lived His earthly life in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. He triumphed over the sins, ills, and woes of man by dependence upon the Holy Spirit, not by reverting to His innate deity. He stripped from Himself every other dependency except faith. He did this to live as we have to live, that He might demonstrate that victory is possible in the very center of our human condition. 

     We deny who Christ really is if we keep insisting that He is only a heavenly person instead of a person from heaven who invaded humanity by taking flesh upon Himself. Once Jesus Christ became flesh, He forever took away my excuses for failure. I must now accept Him for who He truly is—a Savior who begins on my level. He really was a flesh-and-blood baby. Oh, What A Savior!

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Week 27

Are You There God? It’s me, Rachel
By: Rachel Bevins

Part 1

“…and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
-Job 1:21-22

I hate to admit how many times I have found myself asking that question. “Are You there God?” “Did you hear my prayer request?” “Did you leave me alone?” It’s only been after I have come through the other side of those situations that I have realized that He has been there the whole time. He never left me and He never forsake me. 

I think what is interesting is that in those moments when I have had the thoughts: God seems so distant. God isn’t answering me. God isn’t listening. God isn’t helping….God isn’t this and God isn’t that. The problem with that is the fact that God has been there the entire time! He has never abandoned me. He has never forgotten about me. He has been there waiting for me to say “God I need You”. He’s been waiting for me to realize that He is all I need. 

When I was going through my divorce, it seemed like it was one thing after another. Trying to find an attorney and then when I found someone to work with, I had to figure out how to pay for him. Just when things seemed to finally be falling into place or working out for me; all of a sudden something would happen and I felt like I was back at square one. 

I think this is why I relate to Job so much. There have been times when I have felt like there has literally been attack, after attack, after attack. Then a moment of good things and then the rug gets pulled from underneath my feet. It is so tiring.

God, where are You? Why are you letting me go through this? We’ve all heard the expression, “If God is real and loving; why does He let bad things happen to good people?” I believe that He allows things to happen to help us grow closer to Him. I know that sounds contradictory as well. Why would a God who loves us so much need us to go through that to grow closer to Him? He could just make us closer to Him. Right? I think it’s because He wants us to come to that conclusion on our own. If He told us how things would turn out, we definitely wouldn’t have a reason to follow and obey Him. 

In the book of Job, we see time and time again where the devil has come against Him. He took his land, his livestock, his kids, family and more. Job questions things also. In Chapter 19, verse 25, Job says “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth”. He goes on to say that even though his skin has been destroyed, he will see God! He kept the faith and God found favor with him. 

Hold tight friends. This isn’t the end. I know it feels like it sometimes, but hold on. I know that when it isn’t one thing going wrong, it’s about ten or more. God isn’t going to let us go. We have to have darkness to get to the light. God is the light. Job found a way to worship God even in the darkest times. May we take his lead and example.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for the trials in life. Thank you for being by my side. I may not always know or feel You there, but You are. Help me to cling to You. Help me to strengthen my relationship with You and praise You in the storms like Job. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

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Part 2

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’
-John 3:16-17

I really don’t get why God has chosen me. I look back on my life and just think ‘what in the world?’ I’ve said and done some ridiculous things. Nothing has shaken God, however. Nothing has made Him say ‘Well, we tried with this one; it’s a lost cause at this point’.

I’ve gotten a little dizzy on this wild roller coaster I put myself on with God. Just when I think I’m going to stay at the highest part of the coaster; whoosh! Here’s the big drop! Through it all though, He’s been right there. He’s been there to slow the coaster down and stop it when He needs to. 

Sometimes it’s hard to process that the god of the entire universe loves me! The amount of times I’ve turned my back on him is appalling. Yet, He still loves me and still sent His only son to die for my sins! It brings tears to my eyes when I think about that. Imagine the thing that you cherish the most in this world. Now imagine in a ransom hostage situation, you give up the cherished thing knowing full well that the person you gave it up for may not even choose to thank you or feel like they are indebted to you! 

Thank you Jesus for loving me when I feel unlovable! Thank you God for sending your son to die for me even though there was no guarantee that I would follow You!

I know there are times that we feel unloved and unworthy. I’ve had my share of those times. It’s been recently that I have started to embrace my differences and to realize that even if I lose everything, like Job did….I still have my Jesus! Nothing can take that away from me.

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Part 3

‘And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

-Luke 9:23

I love when God checks me when I’m least expecting it. Earlier I was getting after Hunter for not listening and following my directions. It was just a simple task I asked and told him to do. He wouldn’t do it and wouldn’t do it. I finally got after him stating that if I had to ask him one more time, he was really going to be in trouble.

Then, I was quickly reminded that it’s the same thing with God. He directs me and tells me what to do. I tend to do anything else BUT what He asked/said. I was humbled by that thought. In the same way that I want my child to listen and obey me; God wants me to listen and obey Him also.

I remember when I was younger and if I did something wrong, my parents would correct me. The great thing about my parents is that they never made me feel like they didn’t want me anymore. They never made me feel like I was worthless or that I’d never amount to anything. They were gracious and even though they disciplined me, they still loved me! 

I think we think of God as the opposite sometimes. We think that because we sinned, that He no longer loves us. We think that because we disobeyed and we did x, y, and z that He won’t forgive us; even when we told Him that we repented. God isn’t a one and done kind of God. He doesn’t just forgive us one time and call it good. When we come to Him and lay our burdens at His feet, He takes them and forgets them. He forgives us. 

God never said that having a relationship with Him would be perfect and easy. He says it’ll be worth it. Just because we make the decision to follow Him, doesn’t mean that we will never struggle with our relationship with Him. We have to deny ourselves daily and take up our cross and follow Him. Daily we have to choose to follow Him. 

Jesus did not come to this world to condemn us for what we have done. He came to give us life more abundant by saving us with His own life; from an eternity in Hell.

The choice is ours folks! Let us all choose Jesus everyday!

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Week 28

Jesus Is . . . Part 3
By: Pastor Mike Collins

Jesus Is With Us

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:20

The great commission tells us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When we consider that commission from Jesus Christ and that it is to everyone who calls upon Him as Lord and Savior, it can seem like a daunting task. This is especially true knowing that we are attempting to be a light in a dark world. It is a world that is not only dark but rejects and hates the light.  That is enough to make us think twice about being obedient to Christ’s commission.

However, Jesus does not throw us to the wolves or leave us hanging. He finishes His commission with a promise. The wording is a faithful vow by Jesus to be with us to the very end of time. Not only does Jesus go with us into ministry and into the mission field, but He goes ahead of us. His prevenient grace is preparing the field for harvest. He is stirring in the lives of the people that we will bear witness to. It is because of the Holy Spirit moving in others’ lives that they know about a need for Jesus Christ. Jesus is not only with us, but He is also guiding us and a very active participant in what He has called us to do. Take heart, fellow servant, you are not alone!

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Jesus Sees Us

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 
He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
-Luke 19:1-5

     Even though I was saved as a teenager, I still remember very well singing the song about the wee little man named Zacchaeus. I was struck then as I still am today about this desire and willingness to stop at nothing to see Jesus. However, within the story is an inner desire to be seen by Jesus.

     The crowds following Jesus were quite large. Zacchaeus was short but he was also not wanted by those within the crowd. As the chief tax collector, he would have been considered the greatest of the sinners by the Jews around. He would’ve been rejected and scorned. He would not have been accepted. His initial impulse would have been to blend in or hide, but as he climbed that tree the yearning of his soul was to be seen.

     Have you ever felt lost in the crowd? Whether through rejection or just a feeling of insignificance, we face the temptation of feeling unseen by Jesus. We think we don’t deserve to be noticed by the Savior. Our sin or our lack of abilities make us feel like we don’t measure up and he would never want to look at us. The lie of Satan is to tell us that we don’t belong in the kingdom of God.

     However, loved one, that is not true! The truth of the gospel is grace! When Jesus looked up and saw Zacchaeus, it was an act of grace. Zacchaeus, like us, was not worthy to receive the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ. But Jesus saw him, and He sees us. Not only did he see Zacchaeus, but He also called to him. His invitation to stay at Zacchaeus’s house is much like the invitation to us. He wants to stay in our hearts and our lives and for us to know him intimately.

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Jesus, the Comforter and Teacher

     As a kid one of my great treats was to go to the grocery store with my dad. I was allowed to sit in the front seat, which was a rarity any other time due to my place as the youngest in the house. Also, it was one-on-one time with my dad in which we talked about all sorts of things. Usually, he would be sharing about life and molding me into the man he thought I should become. In the front seat with dad was a special place of learning and connection with my earthly father. 

     As Christians we have a similar place of learning and connection.

     In the Gospels we are introduced to a person by the name of Mary of Bethany. Every time we see her, she is at the Master’s feet. 

     In Luke 10:38–39 we read,

“As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him.

She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said.” 

     Next in John 11:32 we see Mary mourning her brother Lazarus’s death. She carries her grief to the feet of Jesus.

“She fell at His feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” 

     From these fleeting glimpses of Mary, we see an example from which we have much to learn. First, she sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what He said. Second, she knew where to take her greatest hurts. Her brother had died and she “fell at the feet of Jesus with a broken heart.” Whatever hurts you most today, friend, take it to Jesus. He is ready to listen, ready to help you bear the load. Whatever you do today, friend, be sure to spend some time at the feet of Jesus.

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